Bitget confirms $351.6M in unauthorized transfers and pauses withdrawals

Bitget halts withdrawals after unauthorized transfers

Bitget has confirmed unauthorized transfers of about $351.6 million in assets and has temporarily suspended withdrawals while it investigates the breach, the crypto exchange said.

The exchange said its security systems detected the transfers, which involved a limited number of hot wallets, at 18:31 UTC on Thursday. Hot wallets are wallets connected to the internet that exchanges use to handle day-to-day operations. Bitget said it activated emergency response procedures.

Bitget added that user account balances remained accurate and that deposits and trading continue to operate normally.

Which assets and networks were affected

• Bitget put the value of the unauthorized transfers at approximately $351.6 million.
• CEO Gracy Chen said the affected assets included Ether (ETH), XRP, USDt (USDT), USDC, Avalanche (AVAX), BNB and USDT0 on Arbitrum.
• Chen named Ethereum, the XRP Ledger, Avalanche, BNB Smart Chain and Arbitrum as the networks involved. She said Ethereum accounted for the main concentration of the observed stolen funds.
• Chen said the breach was contained to a portion of the exchange's hot and warm wallet layers, while its cold wallets — storage kept offline — remained secure.

Why early reports showed a smaller figure

Early onchain reporting, meaning analysis of activity recorded directly on blockchains, captured a smaller amount than Bitget later disclosed. Chen said this was because the incident extended beyond the Ethereum activity captured in that early onchain analysis.

What the CEO said about coverage and timing

Speaking in a live Q&A, Chen said the affected funds are more than covered by Bitget's User Protection Fund, which she said currently holds more than $464 million.

She said the exchange would provide hourly updates and publish a full incident report within 24 hours, including a root-cause analysis and corrective actions. Chen said she expects withdrawals to reopen in a matter of hours or days.

What is confirmed

• Bitget confirmed unauthorized transfers and the temporary suspension of withdrawals.
• The exchange said it has flagged addresses associated with the transfers and contacted law enforcement and onchain security firms.
• Bitget said user account balances are accurate and that deposits and trading continue normally.
• The figures, timings, wallet types and the coverage claim come from Bitget and its CEO.

What is still unclear

• Who carried out the transfers has not been stated in the supplied material.
• The root cause is not yet known. Bitget says a full incident report with a root-cause analysis is due within 24 hours.
• There is no fixed time for withdrawals to resume. Chen said hours or days.
• Early onchain analysis and the exchange's later figure differ, and the difference has been explained only by Chen's account of the Ethereum activity captured in that early analysis.

Why this matters for Bitget users

Withdrawals are paused, so customers cannot currently move funds off the exchange, even though Bitget says balances are unaffected and that deposits and trading still work. The statement that affected funds are covered rests on the exchange's User Protection Fund figure provided by Chen.

Sources

• Cointelegraph