Bitget's Recovery Faces Final Test Amid $387.5 Million Hack

Bitget has reached the final phase of its withdrawal schedule, eight days after the exchange suffered a massive hack. The breach, which occurred on 24 September, resulted in the loss of approximately $387.5 million from the exchange's hot and warm wallets. CEO Gracy Chen stated that the exchange's Protection Fund, established in 2022 with 5,500 BTC, absorbed the financial impact of the hack.

The exchange published a four-phase withdrawal schedule, with each phase expanding to new asset classes. Phase 1 allowed Bitcoin withdrawals, which were completed on 28 September. Phase 2 opened Ether withdrawals on 29 September, and Phase 3 allowed USDT withdrawals on 30 September. Today, Phase 4 will cover remaining tokens, fiat currency withdrawals, and peer-to-peer trading.

Users attempting withdrawals should verify that the asset and network they need are live on Bitget's withdrawal status page. They should also confirm that their account's two-factor authentication settings remain intact after the breach and review any pending transactions that may have been queued during the suspension period.

The investigation into the attack vector continues, with Mandiant and SlowMist assisting the exchange. Chen stated that the attackers did not steal private keys, but rather exploited a backend wallet-processing system to make fraudulent withdrawals appear legitimate to Bitget's internal authorization process.