Bitget Hack Laundering Generated Over $760,000 in Fees

An independent researcher has uncovered that protocols and services used to launder funds stolen from Bitget collected $761,725 in fees. The analysis, conducted by Andrey Sergeenkov and shared with crypto.news, covered transactions through Oct. 2 at 10:22 UTC. The findings follow the Sept. 24 theft from Bitget’s hot and warm wallets, which the exchange later valued at approximately $387.5 million.

Sergeenkov calculated that THORChain liquidity providers received $573,226 from swaps involving the stolen funds. Other services, including MetaMask, Chainflip, and CoW EthFlow, collected additional fees totaling $149,417, $26,751, and $12,332, respectively. The research also traced $259,718 in THORChain affiliate fees to recipients with financial links to wallets involved in the swaps.

Among the affiliate fee recipients, the largest address received $177,499. Sergeenkov linked it to the laundering activity through shared recipients of the main funds. Another address received $56,514, while a third collected $18,080. Some fee proceeds were eventually traced to an OKX labeled wallet, though the analysis does not establish who owns the account or their involvement in the theft.

The research highlights the complex movement of assets following the Bitget breach. Roughly $269 million passed through THORChain across 7,804 transactions by BlockSec’s Sept. 29 snapshot. Bitget had asked THORChain to refuse service to addresses linked to the breach, but THORChain stated its mechanisms were designed to protect network operations, not freeze individual transactions. Other services, like $NEAR Intents, blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers linked to the Bitget wallets.