Bitget resumes Bitcoin withdrawals after $387.5 million theft

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has resumed Bitcoin withdrawals after suspending them in response to a security breach. The company says it addressed the vulnerability exploited in the incident.

Bitget initially reported that attackers stole $351.6 million from its hot and warm wallets. On Friday, it revised the amount to $387.5 million transferred to attacker-controlled addresses, based on updated on-chain tracing and transaction classification. The company said the incident was contained and that trading and deposits continued to operate.

Bitget said the pause in withdrawals was a security measure, user balances remained unaffected, and its Protection Fund covered the financial impact. The company said it would restore withdrawals for other assets and networks on a phased schedule: ETH on Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism on September 29 at 8:00 UTC; USDT on Ethereum, BSC, Solana, and Tron on September 30 at 8:00 UTC; and other tokens, fiat, and P2P assets starting October 2 at 8:00 UTC.

CEO Gracy Chen said the incident affected several blockchain networks and assets. She attributed it to North Korean hackers, citing on-chain analysis and IP behavior patterns. Bitget said attackers breached a backend system in its wallet infrastructure and used it to spoof transaction data and trigger fund transfers.

The company also announced a Recovery Bounty Program offering 5% for help recovering or freezing funds. The attribution to North Korean hackers is Bitget's claim; the source does not report independent confirmation.