North Korea-Linked Hack Pushes Crypto Theft Above $1 Billion

Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange, reported an unauthorized transfer of $351.6 million from its hot wallets on September 24. The attack was linked to North Korean groups and pushed the total North Korea-linked crypto theft above $1 billion in 2026, according to Elliptic.

The exchange stated that its cold wallets were not affected by the breach and that it had a User Protection Fund of over $464 million to cover losses. Bitget also claimed to have fixed the vulnerability and was working with security firms Mandiant and SlowMist to investigate the incident.

The hack has reignited debate over the safety of centralized exchanges versus decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and cold wallets. Investors are now questioning who controls their cryptocurrency's private keys, a crucial aspect of security and adoption in the crypto space.