Bitget Hacked for $388M: North Korea Suspected in Crypto Theft

Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange, suffered a massive hack on September 24, resulting in an estimated loss of $388 million. The incident is now considered the largest publicly reported crypto theft of 2026 so far.

The exchange first detected unauthorized transfers at 18:31 UTC on Sept. 24. In its official security update, Bitget said subsequent onchain tracing found additional affected assets on Zcash and Tron, lifting the confirmed amount by about $35.9 million.

Bitget stressed that the higher number reflects a more complete accounting of the original breach, not a second attack. The exchange's monitoring systems spotted abnormal transfers involving portions of its hot and warm wallet infrastructure.

The company has launched a recovery bounty offering 5% of successfully frozen or recovered funds to eligible contributors. It also claims that user balances remain intact and the Protection Fund can absorb the loss.