Bitget Hack Tied to North Korea, $1 Billion in Crypto Thefts This Year
The Bitget exchange was hacked on September 24, 2026, resulting in the theft of approximately $387 million. The analytics firm Chainalysis has attributed the theft to actors with ties to North Korea, stating that the money was moved across four different blockchain networks: Ethereum, XRP, Zcash, and Tron.
The money was transferred in 23 individual transactions over a period of three hours. The exchange, Bitget, initially froze withdrawals but later reopened them on September 28. In the days following the hack, customers withdrew a total of around $463 million, more than the amount stolen.
Chainalysis notes that attributing the theft to North Korea does not necessarily mean that the government was directly involved. Instead, it suggests that the attackers may have been state-backed teams working for the long term.
The distribution of the stolen funds across the four blockchain networks is significant. Ethereum carried 49.7% of the stolen funds, followed by XRP at 40.8%. Zcash and Tron carried 7.6% and 1.8% respectively. The use of Zcash is particularly interesting, as it allows for shielded transactions that hide the amount and parties involved.
The total amount of crypto thefts attributed to North Korea in 2026 now exceeds $1 billion. This is an annual total from several incidents, not a single attack. The Bitget hack accounts for just under a third of the total losses in the third quarter of 2026, which stood at $1.26 billion.