Bitget Returns to Normal Operations as Protection Fund Hits $309M
Cryptocurrency trading platform Bitget provided an update to its users in the wake of a $388 million cyberattack that occurred last week, highlighting the restoration of its protection fund and the resumption of withdrawal services.
Bitget's chief executive officer announced that the cryptocurrency trading platform is experiencing a progressive return to standard operations in the aftermath of a cyberattack that led to $388 million in stolen user assets.
Through a post shared on X this Wednesday, Gracy Chen, who serves as CEO of Bitget, announced that withdrawal capabilities for the complete range of tokens would be reinstated by Friday, while the platform has already reestablished access for users holding Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and USDt (USDT). In conjunction with these recovery initiatives, the exchange's 'Protection Fund' has successfully been replenished to $309 million.
This fund was originally established by the Bitget platform back in January 2022, starting with an initial allocation of 5,500 BTC, and was designed to compensate users for potential losses occurring "not a result of any misconduct from the user or the platform itself," which presumably encompasses certain types of security breaches. Based on the company's statements, these funds remained ready "for instant deployment whenever the need arises."
"The Protection Fund was created for moments like this and absorbed the financial impact of the incident," said Chen.
Based on statements from Chen during her conversation with Cointelegraph earlier this week, the exchange continues to investigate various potential perpetrators behind the $388 million cyberattack, leaving open possibilities ranging from an internal threat to involvement by North Korean hacking groups. In an effort to recover the stolen assets, the platform introduced a bounty program, providing 5% of any frozen funds plus an additional 5% for successfully recovered assets.
This Wednesday, ZachXBT, a well-known blockchain investigator, disclosed that cryptocurrency wallets connected to the Bitget security breach transferred approximately $3.8 million worth of Zcash (ZEC) into the network's Ironwood pool. These particular transactions accounted for roughly 14% of the total 18,917 ZEC that were taken during the cyberattack.