Bitget says $351.6 million was affected in wallet-system breach
CoinDesk reported that Bitget lost approximately $351.6 million after attackers reached part of the exchange’s wallet infrastructure. According to CEO Gracy Chen, the incident affected hot and warm wallet layers, while the exchange’s offline cold wallets remained isolated.
The first public estimates were lower. Independent blockchain researchers initially identified unusual movements of roughly $178 million to $183 million across several chains. The larger figure was disclosed after Bitget assessed the broader exposure, illustrating how early on-chain estimates can change as an exchange completes internal accounting.
Backend compromise, not stolen private keys
In a follow-up account reported by CoinDesk, Chen said attackers compromised a critical backend system, fabricated transaction data and caused Bitget’s authorization process to approve transfers. She said a direct private-key compromise had been ruled out. That distinction matters because stolen signing keys can enable repeated transfers until credentials are rotated, while a compromised approval system points to a different containment and remediation process.
Bitget temporarily paused withdrawals while deposits and trading remained available. The company said its protection fund—reported at more than $464 million—would cover the loss and that account balances remained accurate. Those statements are assurances from the exchange and should be evaluated alongside withdrawal restoration, proof-of-reserves information and the promised technical incident report.
What remained under review
The exchange later said the underlying vulnerability had been identified and remediated, and that no further unauthorized transfers were possible. Even so, users still needed clarity on the full intrusion path, the amount recovered or frozen, the restoration of withdrawals and the final changes made to security controls.
CoinDesk’s report combines Bitget’s statements with independent on-chain observations. Figures and conclusions may evolve as investigators publish additional evidence.