Bitget hit by $352M hack on eighth anniversary, CEO blames North Korea

Gracy Chen, the CEO of Bitget, has stated that North Korea is likely behind the recent hack that saw approximately $352 million stolen from the cryptocurrency exchange.

Yesterday, significant withdrawals were detected from wallets identified as Bitget hot and cold addresses, raising concerns in the crypto community.

Specter Analyst, a crypto investigator, connected the attack to the North Korean Lazarus Group via a social media post.

Chen later confirmed in a livestream that the incident bears the hallmarks of a North Korean operation.

Earlier 7 hours ago, I hosted a live stream with everyone that lasted over three hours. Here's a summary of the points I covered in the live:

① Bitget security incident update — 1 hours in. We're sharing specific facts, not just reassurances.

② Affected assets include ETH,… https://t.co/kkVr4YbKZq

— Gracy Chen @Bitget (@GracyBitget) September 25, 2026

Chen further disclosed that several blockchain networks have frozen addresses tied to the hack, and noted that the Bitget wallet, which is separate from the exchange, was not compromised.

She ruled out a private key leak, stating instead that attackers managed to penetrate the wallet services backend, falsify transfer information, and authorise their own signing operations.

Bitget's cold wallets reportedly stayed secure, while the attack targeted hot wallets and warm wallet layers.

Bitget CEO says users funds are covered

Chen assured users that their funds were safe, with most of the loss absorbed by Bitget's User Protection Fund, which she said "currently holds over $464 million."

Bitget is collaborating with independent forensic firms Mandiant and SlowMist to establish exactly what happened. The exchange announced this morning that withdrawals remain temporarily halted.

Initially, the losses from the Bitget hack were thought to be much lower. The incident occurred as the platform marked its eighth anniversary.