$351M Unauthorized Transfer Forces Bitget to Halt Withdrawals
Following the discovery of unauthorized transactions from hot wallets, Bitget has halted withdrawal services, while CEO Gracy Chen commits to releasing a comprehensive incident analysis within a day.
The cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has acknowledged unauthorized asset movements totaling roughly $351.6 million and has halted withdrawal services on a temporary basis as it examines the security incident.
According to Bitget, the company's security infrastructure identified the unauthorized transactions involving a restricted set of hot wallets at 18:31 UTC on Thursday, which led the platform to initiate its emergency protocols immediately.
The exchange's CEO Gracy Chen indicated that the security incident was limited to a segment of the platform's hot and warm wallet infrastructure, whereas the cold storage wallets were not compromised. The platform confirmed that user account balance information continues to display accurately and that both deposit functions and trading activities remain operational without disruption.
The exchange has placed a temporary hold on withdrawal functionality as it carries out a comprehensive security assessment. Bitget confirmed it has identified and marked the wallet addresses connected to the unauthorized transfers and has reached out to law enforcement authorities and blockchain security specialists.
According to Chen, the total value of the affected assets is covered by Bitget's User Protection Fund, which presently maintains reserves exceeding $464 million. She committed to delivering updates on an hourly basis and releasing a comprehensive incident assessment, which will include a root-cause determination and planned remediation measures, within a 24-hour timeframe.
The exchange has refrained from revealing the specific method by which the wallets were accessed without authorization, stating it would avoid conjecture regarding the attack methodology during the active investigation period.