Bitget Confirms Unauthorized Transfers Estimated at $351.6 Million
Crypto exchange Bitget temporarily halted withdrawals after detecting unauthorized transfers from some hot and warm wallets. According to the company, cold wallets were not affected.
Bitget confirmed unauthorized transfers on September 24 after its systems detected the movement of assets from some hot wallets without authorization at 18:31 UTC. The exchange preliminarily estimated the value of the affected assets at approximately $351.6 million and temporarily suspended withdrawals.
According to the company’s announcement, the incident affected part of its wallet infrastructure’s hot and warm layers. Cold wallets were not affected. Bitget also stated that deposits and trading on the platform continued.
Bitget confirms unauthorized transfers from hot and warm layers
Bitget has not yet disclosed the technical cause of the incident or the specific vector used to execute the transfers.
The $351.6 million estimate is preliminary and comes from the company itself. It has not been confirmed what the final amount of the loss will be, whether some of the assets can be recovered, or when the exchange will restore withdrawals. The identity of the attackers has also not been independently confirmed.
Exchange says loss is covered by protection fund
Bitget announced that it had reported the case to the relevant authorities and on-chain security firms. It also stated that the loss would be covered by its User Protection Fund. However, the claim that client balances and the loss from the fund are fully covered has not yet been independently verified.
For users, the immediate consequence is the suspension of withdrawals. Deposits and trading are functioning according to the exchange’s statement, but transferring assets off the platform is unavailable during the restriction. According to Bitget’s announcement, the incident does not affect cold wallets, though the company has not specified the scope of the affected hot and warm systems in detail.
Bitget Wallet says it uses separate infrastructure
In its own statement, Bitget Wallet said that its self-custody wallet operates on separate infrastructure and was not affected by the exchange incident. This statement concerns the Bitget Wallet product, not balances held directly on the centralized Bitget exchange.
Further developments will depend mainly on the exchange’s technical report on the cause and scope of the incident, the restoration of withdrawals, and any independent forensic findings. Verifiable confirmation of how the loss and any user compensation will be covered will also be important.
Sources
- Bitget Support Center — Security Notice – Bitget confirmed the detection time, the preliminary estimate of $351.6 million, the impact on the hot and warm layers, the security of cold wallets, and the temporary suspension of withdrawals.
- Bitget Wallet — Self-Custody Security Statement – Bitget Wallet stated that its self-custody wallet and users’ assets were not affected by the exchange incident.
- BleepingComputer – Independently corroborates Bitget’s announcement about the incident, the suspension of withdrawals, and the ongoing investigation; it describes the attribution to North Korea as a suspicion.
Verified and updated: September 25, 2026 15:20
