Bitget Hacked for $387.5m in Suspected North Korean Crypto Heist

A major cryptocurrency exchange has been hit by what appears to be one of the biggest crypto heists this year. Bitget detected unauthorized transfers from its hot and warm wallets on Thursday, totalling $387.5 million (€332.8mn). The attackers did not obtain the private keys used to access these wallets, but instead breached an internal system and entered false transaction information that made fraudulent transfers appear legitimate.

Bitget's CEO Gracy Chen said in a livestream that the company identified IP addresses whose VPN usage matched that of a North Korean group, making a North Korean connection 'very likely.' The attackers used these compromised accounts to make unauthorized transactions.

Fortunately for users, Bitget's user protection fund held more than $464 million (€398.5mn) at the time of the attack and is sufficient to cover the loss. However, as a precautionary measure, the company temporarily suspended withdrawals while it checks its systems.