Bitget2026-10-02 06:26:53Bitget CEO says little of $388 million hack may be recovered as protection fund is replenishedBitget CEO Gracy Chen said only about $1.1 million of the nearly $388 million stolen in last week’s hack has been frozen, and she does not expect much of the money to be recovered. Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe, Chen said frozen funds have not yet been returned to the exchange and declined to say how much has actually been recovered. She also said user account balances were not affected. Chen said Bitget has restored its protection fund with the company’s own capital rather than passing losses on to users. The fund had been worth more than $464 million before the incident. CNBC, citing Bloomberg calculations based on the fund’s public wallet addresses, said it had briefly fallen below $200 million after the hack and has since been brought back above $300 million. A Mandiant investigation published by Bitget said attackers gained unauthorized privileged access to two third-party security devices on Sept. 24, planted a web shell on one of them, established remote control access, and later moved into a production wallet operations server. The report said there was no sign of private key theft and that cold wallets were not affected. Bitget has already resumed BTC, ETH and USDT withdrawals, with remaining tokens, fiat and P2P services scheduled to return on Oct. 2 at 08:00 UTC.50
Bitget2026-09-30 16:28:30Bitget says operations are returning to normal as protection fund reaches $309MBitget says it is gradually restoring normal operations after a security breach that led to $388 million in user losses. CEO Gracy Chen said on Wednesday that withdrawals for all tokens will resume on Friday, while access to Bitcoin, Ether, and USDt has already been restored. The exchange also said its Protection Fund has reached $309 million as part of its recovery effort. According to Bitget, the fund was established in January 2022 with 5,500 BTC and was designed to cover user losses in cases not caused by misconduct by the user or the platform itself. Chen said the fund was built for incidents like this and has absorbed the financial impact of the breach. Chen also told Cointelegraph that the company has not ruled out possible perpetrators behind the attack, including the possibility of an inside job or North Korean hackers. Bitget has launched a bounty program offering 5% of frozen funds and 5% of any recovered funds. Separately, blockchain investigator ZachXBT said wallets linked to the hack moved about $3.8 million in Zcash into Ironwood, accounting for roughly 14% of the 18,917 ZEC stolen.50
Bitget2026-09-30 16:37:20Bitget says all token withdrawals will resume Friday after $388 million security incidentBitget plans to restore withdrawals for all tokens on Friday after a security incident that, according to CEO Gracy Chen, resulted in $388 million in user fund losses. The exchange has already resumed withdrawals for Bitcoin, Ether and USDT. Chen said Bitget’s protection fund, established in January 2022, has grown to $309 million and will absorb the financial impact of the incident. She also said the company has not ruled out the possibility that insiders or North Korean hackers were involved in the attack. Bitget has launched a bounty program tied to asset recovery. The exchange is offering a 5% reward for funds that are frozen and a separate 5% reward for funds that are recovered. In a related onchain development, a wallet linked to the attack moved about $3.8 million worth of ZEC into the Ironwood Pool. The update was cited by Odaily, which referenced Cointelegraph as the source.80
Bitget2026-09-28 10:18:03Bitget Restarts Bitcoin Withdrawals as Exchange Begins Phased Recovery After $388 Million HackBitget has reopened BTC withdrawals on the Bitcoin network, marking the first step in restoring services that were frozen after attackers drained about $388 million from the exchange’s hot and warm wallets on Sept. 24. The exchange said withdrawals resumed at 8:00 UTC on Monday as scheduled and that the vulnerability used in the attack has been fixed, with no additional unauthorized transfers detected after containment. The rest of the withdrawal system is set to return in stages under a timetable published by Bitget on Sept. 26. ETH withdrawals on Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum, Base and Optimism are scheduled for Tuesday at 8:00 UTC, followed by USDT withdrawals on Ethereum, BSC, Solana and Tron at the same time on Wednesday. All remaining tokens, along with fiat and P2P withdrawals, are slated to resume on Oct. 2. CEO Gracy Chen said the attackers did not obtain Bitget’s private keys. Instead, they compromised a critical backend system in the exchange’s wallet infrastructure, spoofed transaction data and triggered the authorization process to move funds. Mandiant and SlowMist are assisting with the investigation. Bitget said its roughly $464 million User Protection Fund will fully cover the losses and is offering a 5% bounty on any stolen funds that are frozen or recovered through voluntary efforts.230
Bitget2026-09-28 08:19:14Bitget says withdrawal resumption gives no priority to institutions, VIPs, or staffBitget used a livestream reviewing its recent security incident to outline how it is handling remediation and withdrawal recovery. Xie Jiayin, head of Bitget Greater China, said the exchange has isolated affected systems by taking all related servers off the network to stop the attack from spreading while preserving evidence for tracing. He also said Bitget invalidated and reissued all internal login credentials, making any stolen credentials unusable, and pulled back and restructured highly sensitive permissions so that key actions now require multi-person approval. Xie added that Bitget has shared vulnerability details with relevant third-party security vendors to support analysis and remediation, and has stopped using the related function until fixes are complete. The exchange also plans to strengthen withdrawal checks so every withdrawal goes through an independent verification process. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said BTC withdrawals resumed first because that withdrawal channel was not affected by the attack and completed verification earliest. ETH and USDT withdrawals were restored later based on verification progress and stronger user demand. She also said the withdrawal recovery plan applies equally to all users, with no separate channel or priority access for institutions, VIP clients, or Bitget employees.220
Bitget2026-09-28 08:13:32Bitget launches companion program with 30% net fee bonus for non-institutional usersBitget has introduced a new "Companion Program," according to CEO Gracy Chen, who outlined the initiative during a livestream reviewing a recent security incident. The program has two tracks and covers retail-facing users as well as institutional clients. For VIP and non-VIP users, Bitget said that over the next month it will return 30% of the actual retained net trading fees generated by non-institutional users as a dedicated bonus. The exchange is also rolling out related VIP benefits at the same time, and those benefits can run in parallel with the Companion Program. For Pro clients and market makers, Bitget is launching an institutional version of the program. That track includes incentives tied to trading fees and rebates. The company also said the protection period for Pro status has been extended through Nov. 30. The announcement was made by Chen during the "Security Incident Review" livestream.260
Bitget2026-09-28 07:53:00Bitget CEO says about $388 million was moved by attackers, protection fund to be restored above $300 million within a weekBitget CEO Gracy Chen said in a livestream that attackers exploited a vulnerability in a third-party security product to steal internal credential permissions and forge withdrawal instructions to the exchange’s wallet system, bypassing risk-control checks. She said private keys were not compromised and cold wallets were not affected, adding that the vulnerability has been fixed and the incident is now fully contained. Chen said the amount confirmed to have been moved out was about $388 million. She also said Bitget has publicly released the attacker addresses and on-chain tracking data. According to Chen, all losses from the incident will be covered by the user protection fund, and the exchange will replenish that fund to at least $300 million within one week after using it. Bitget has also started an asset recovery plan and will share confirmed vulnerability and attack details with relevant industry parties.240
Bitget2026-09-28 07:47:36Bitget CEO says protection fund will be restored to more than $300 million within a weekBitget CEO Gracy Chen said during a livestream reviewing the incident that unauthorized transfers took place at 2:31 a.m. Beijing time on Sept. 25 across multiple chains, affecting assets held in parts of the exchange’s hot-wallet and warm-wallet infrastructure. According to the company’s investigation, the attacker exploited a vulnerability in a third-party security product, stole internal credential access, and forged withdrawal instructions to the wallet system, bypassing risk-control checks. Chen said private keys were not compromised and cold wallets were not affected. She added that the attack path has been identified, the vulnerability has been fixed, and the situation is now fully under control. Bitget said about $388 million in assets was transferred out. The attacker’s addresses and on-chain tracking data have already been disclosed. Chen also said the full loss will be covered by Bitget’s user protection fund, and the company will replenish that fund to at least $300 million within one week after it is used. Bitget has also started an asset recovery plan and said it will share confirmed vulnerability and attack details with relevant industry parties while continuing to disclose tracking updates.230
