Bitget CEO Gracy Chen announced that the crypto exchange suffered a theft of close to $388 million in digital assets, an amount higher than the initially reported $350 million. Chen stated that the revised figure reflects a more complete accounting of transfers during the incident. Security firms first flagged unauthorized transactions from the Victoria, Seychelles-based exchange’s hot wallets on Thursday, prompting Bitget to freeze withdrawals. The stolen assets primarily consisted of ethereum, tron, and USDT stablecoin, with no bitcoin directly identified in the initial security update, although trackers indicate the attacker holds over $28.8 million in bitcoin.
Chen noted that the attack method is highly consistent with known patterns of North Korean hacker organizations, based on IP behavior and on-chain analysis. She emphasized the goal of completing a full recovery as soon as possible. Bitget ranks as the sixth biggest crypto exchange, processing over $1 billion in daily trading volume according to CoinGecko data. This breach follows other significant security incidents this year, including a July hack of Coldcard hardware wallets resulting in nearly $120 million in losses and a recent withdrawal of about 4,000 bitcoins from Blockstream’s Liquid sidechain.
The attribution of the Bitget breach to North Korean entities underscores the persistent threat landscape facing centralized exchanges, particularly those operating under jurisdictions like Seychelles. The discrepancy between the initial $350 million report and the final $388 million figure highlights the challenges exchanges face in real-time forensic accounting during active incidents. This event reinforces the vulnerability of hot wallet infrastructure, which remains a primary target for sophisticated state-linked actors despite years of industry warnings regarding custody solutions and network isolation protocols.
Institutional adoption criteria are likely to tighten further as major players assess operational risk against such high-profile failures. The involvement of AI tools in enhancing cybercriminal efficiency, as noted by experts, suggests that traditional security measures may be insufficient against next-generation attacks. Market participants will closely monitor Bitget’s recovery efforts and any regulatory responses, as the incident adds pressure on the broader sector to demonstrate robust compliance frameworks and transparent crisis management capabilities.
