Bitget Restores $309 Million Protection Fund After $388M Breach

Bitget has restored its Protection Fund to about $309 million and resumed withdrawals for major cryptocurrencies after a security breach that resulted in about $388 million in stolen user funds.

The exchange used its own capital to rebuild the fund. Bitget said customers would not bear the financial impact of the restoration. CEO Gracy Chen noted that the fund had reduced the effect of the incident on users while the company investigates.

Ether withdrawals resumed on Sept. 29 across Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Base and Optimism. USDT withdrawals restarted on Sept. 30 on Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana and Tron. Bitcoin withdrawals were also restored. Bitget scheduled the return of other token withdrawals, fiat withdrawals and peer-to-peer services for Oct. 2.

About $1.1 million in funds linked to the breach has been frozen. The money has not been returned to Bitget, and the exchange has not disclosed how much of the stolen assets it has recovered. The company has not identified the attacker.

Bitget has ruled out several possible causes, including insider involvement and an attack by North Korean hackers. The investigation remains ongoing.

Chen expressed doubt that a large share of the stolen funds would be recovered, citing the recovery record from other cryptocurrency hacks. She added that exchanges must show how they protect customers after security incidents.

Bitget reported a reserve ratio of about 131%. The company’s latest proof-of-reserves report covered 19 assets, each backed by reserves exceeding 100% of customer balances. The Protection Fund is separate from those reserves and can be verified on-chain.

Bitget launched the fund in January 2022 with 5,500 Bitcoin. It was created to provide financial support to customers affected by security breaches or similar incidents when they were not responsible for the losses.