Hackers Steal $351.6m from Bitget Wallets

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has disclosed that approximately $351.6 million in assets were lost after hackers gained unauthorised access to part of its wallet infrastructure.

Bitget said its security systems detected unauthorised transfers from some of its hot wallets at 18:31 UTC on Thursday, September 24, prompting the company to activate emergency response procedures.

The exchange said the breach affected portions of its hot and warm wallet layers, while its cold wallets remained secure. Bitget temporarily suspended withdrawals as a precaution while deposits and trading continued.

Chief Executive Officer Gracy Chen later said the attackers had compromised a critical backend system within the wallet infrastructure. The attackers allegedly used the compromised system to manipulate transaction data and trigger Bitget’s own authorisation process to move funds.

Chen said the company’s investigation had ruled out the compromise of private keys, which she described as an important distinction in assessing the security incident.

Bitget said the loss had been contained and that no further unauthorised transfers were possible. However, the specific method used by the attackers to gain access to the backend system remained under investigation.

The exchange said its User Protection Fund currently holds more than $464 million, which it said was sufficient to cover the estimated $351.6 million loss.

Bitget also said abnormal transfer addresses had been identified, flagged and reported, while law enforcement agencies and blockchain security firms had been notified and were assisting with the investigation.

The company assured customers that their account balances remained accurate and that their assets were protected. It said deposits and trading services remained operational while withdrawals were paused pending completion of security checks.

Bitget said it would restore withdrawals once the security review and necessary system remediation were completed. The exchange declined to provide a specific timeline until one could be confirmed.

A full technical report covering the root cause of the breach and corrective measures is expected after the investigation is completed.

The incident adds to a growing list of major cryptocurrency security breaches involving exchanges and digital asset platforms, highlighting the risks associated with online wallet infrastructure and backend authorisation systems.