Bitget Hack Exposes Cross-Chain Security Risks with $387 Million Heist

A massive hack on cryptocurrency exchange Bitget resulted in a staggering $387 million being stolen. The attack occurred on September 24, and the funds were moved across multiple chains, including Ethereum (49.7%), XRP (40.8%), Zcash (7.6%), and Tron (1.8%).

The investigation was aided by Chainalysis's use of AI-accelerated automation, which compressed more than 20 hours of manual bridge reconciliation into under 10 minutes.

Investigators identified several laundering mechanisms used by the attackers, including cross-chain liquidity protocols and messaging protocols. The stolen XRP created a particularly messy trail as it was moved through these protocols to receive Bitcoin on another network.

Chainalysis emphasized that their use of AI did not replace investigators, but rather provided repetitive tracing work, allowing experts to define logic, review outputs, and direct the investigation.