Bitget CEO Cites Limited Success in Recovering Stolen Crypto

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen expressed skepticism about recovering the majority of the $388 million stolen in a breach last week. The hack is one of the largest crypto attacks of 2026, following the $320 million exploit of the Liquid Network in September.

Chen drew parallels with the February 2025 Bybit hack, where attackers made off with about $1.5 billion in Ether. Although Bybit has frozen and recovered a combined $80 million since then, roughly 3.5% of the stolen funds, Chen noted that this is not the same as actual recovery.

'I'm actually not very optimistic because after a year or so of Bybit's hack, they've only [been able to freeze] about 3.5% of the total stolen funds,' Chen said in an interview. She emphasized that freezing is just the first step and does not guarantee recovery.

The exchange has resumed withdrawals in stages, starting with Bitcoin on Monday and Ether on Tuesday. Bitget has also launched a Recovery Bounty Program, which offers 5% of attacker funds frozen or recovered to those who assist in the effort. The program has already seen some success, with Tether and Circle blacklisting a wallet tied to the exploit, freezing $318,013 in USDT and USDC.

The NEAR Intents team has also stepped in, blocking more than $50 million in assets tied to the attack and freezing about $500,000. Chen attributed the breach to a DPRK-linked group, citing IP addresses that match the VPN choices of such a group. However, she stressed that this attribution is preliminary and that an inside job has been ruled out, although not entirely eliminated as a possibility.