Bitget Hacked as $350 Million Vanishes From Crypto Exchange Wallets

Bitget confirmed on September 24, 2026 that attackers drained more than $350 million from the exchange's hot wallets after on-chain monitors flagged unusual transfers across multiple blockchains. A newly created address quickly swapped $19.67 million in USDT0 for 7,111 ETH and a series of transfers moved roughly $183 million from wallets labeled as Bitget's into a single destination in about an hour.

By AI Newsroom· Reviewed by Pranav, Founder & Editor-in-ChiefPublished about 2 hours agoUpdated about 2 hours ago0 views

Bitget Hacked as $350 Million Vanishes From Crypto Exchange Wallets

Why It Matters

The incident highlights the ongoing operational risks centralized crypto exchanges face when hot wallets are compromised and the importance of reserve protections: Bitget says its cold wallets were unaffected and that its User Protection Fund will cover the loss. The speed and cross-chain nature of the outflows also show how attackers can rapidly convert and disperse stolen assets on decentralized venues.

Key Facts

Date and detection time: September 24, 2026; Bitget security systems detected unauthorized transfers at 18:31 UTC
Total loss confirmed by CEO: More than $350 million drained from Bitget hot wallets (per CEO Gracy Chen)
Initial on-chain outflow observed: About $183 million in ETH, USDT, USDC, AVAX, BNB and other tokens moved to a single address over ~1 hour
Notable rapid swap: Newly created wallet used $19.67 million USDT0 to buy 7,111 ETH on Arbitrum in six minutes
Services used for swaps: UniswapX and 1inch Fusion; trades paid up to ~5% above market price in places (per on-chain observers)

On September 24, 2026, Bitget acknowledged a major security incident after on-chain researchers and analytics services flagged large, rapid transfers from wallets publicly labeled as belonging to the exchange. Bitget's security systems detected unauthorized withdrawals from some hot wallets at 18:31 UTC and its team activated emergency response procedures, the company said. Blockchain sleuths including Bubblemaps and Arkham traced roughly $183 million in assets—spanning ETH, USDT, USDC, AVAX, BNB and XAUT—moving from Bitget-tagged addresses into a single newly created destination over the course of about an hour. One early transaction saw a fresh address spend $19.67 million in USDT0 to acquire 7,111 ETH on Arbitrum in about six minutes, routing trades through UniswapX and 1inch Fusion and reportedly paying up to 5% over prevailing market prices. Bitget's CEO Gracy Chen later confirmed the broader financial impact, stating that more than $350 million had been taken from the exchange's hot wallets. Chen emphasized that the company's cold wallets—offline reserves used to store long-term assets—remained secure, and said the full amount of the loss is covered by Bitget's User Protection Fund, which she said holds over $464 million. Outflows from the labeled hot wallets reportedly subsided roughly six minutes after the initial swap and remained quiet for at least twenty minutes, a pattern consistent with exchanges freezing withdrawals while investigating. The incident follows a history of large exchange breaches in the sector; Bitget previously maintained a protection fund intended to cover hacks and other losses, and the company said that fund will be used to reimburse affected users. On-chain researchers and social-media observers were the first to raise alarms, and Bitget updated its public notice as the situation developed. The company did not provide additional operational details or a timeline for customer reimbursements in the initial statements; updates to the story included the CEO's confirmation after the first reports appeared.