Key facts
- Bitget lost $388 million in crypto during a security breach.
- Bitget CEO Gracy Chen is not optimistic about recovering all compromised funds.
- Bybit recovered only about 3.5% of funds stolen in a 2025 hack.
- Tether and Circle froze $318,013 in USDT and USDC linked to the Bitget exploit.
- NEAR Intents blocked over $50 million in assets and froze $500,000.
- Bitget began resuming withdrawals on Monday, starting with Bitcoin.
Bitget CEO Gracy Chen is not optimistic about recovering the full $388 million in cryptocurrency lost in a recent security breach, citing the limited success of other exchanges in similar situations. Speaking on Cointelegraph's Chain Reaction, Chen pointed to the February 2025 hack of Bybit, where hackers stole approximately $1.5 billion in Ether (ETH) and the exchange only managed to freeze and recover a combined $80 million.
"I'm actually not very optimistic because after a year or so of Bybit’s hack, they’ve only [been able to freeze] about 3.5% of the total stolen funds," Chen stated. "That’s only the freezing. It’s not about recovery yet."
In response to the incident, Bitget has launched a bounty program, offering 5% of any frozen funds and 5% of any recovered funds. Some companies have already stepped in to help mitigate user losses. The team behind NEAR Intents reported on Monday that they had blocked more than $50 million in assets tied to the attack and froze approximately $500,000. Additionally, stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle blacklisted a wallet connected to the exploit, freezing $318,013 in USDt (USDT) and USDC (USDC).
The Bitget breach is one of the largest in the crypto industry in 2026, following a $320 million exploit of the Liquid Network in September. Notable past attacks include Bybit's in 2025, a $615 million Ronin Bridge hack in 2022, and a $611 million hack of the Poly Network in 2021.
Bitget initially reported a loss of $352 million in digital assets following a Thursday attack and suspended withdrawals. Chen later updated the figure to approximately $388 million after a more complete accounting of transfers. Regarding the perpetrators, Chen indicated that preliminary investigations suggest North Korea may be responsible, based on IP addresses matching those used by a DPRK group, though an inside job has not been entirely ruled out. Bitget began resuming withdrawals in stages, starting with Bitcoin on Monday and continuing with Ethereum on Tuesday.