Bitget halts withdrawals after detecting unauthorized transfers from some hot and warm wallets, affecting ~$351.6M; CEO Gracy Chen says “user funds are safe”
Crypto exchange Bitget said it detected unauthorized transfers from some of its hot- and warm-wallet infrastructure and activated emergency response protocols.
Context & Ripple Effects
Exchange-security incidents have repeatedly turned custody architecture into a customer-access problem: FTX US said it moved remaining funds to cold wallets after unauthorized transactions in 2022, while Crypto.com said it reimbursed affected users after its own breach.
The 2025 Bybit incident, in which a hacker took control of a cold Ethereum wallet, showed that wallet classification alone does not settle the security question. Bitget’s withdrawal halt makes its emergency controls and its assurance on customer balances the immediate test.
First-order effects
- Bitget customers lose withdrawal access while the exchange contains the affected wallet infrastructure and investigates transfers valued at about $351.6 million.
- Gracy Chen’s statement that user funds are safe commits Bitget to restoring access and demonstrating that customer balances are protected despite the affected wallets.
Second-order effects
- Bitget’s handling will be measured against prior exchange responses, including Crypto.com’s same-day reimbursement pledge, making the scope of any customer-protection measures central to confidence in the platform.
- The incident places renewed scrutiny on custody controls at Bitget and other centralized exchanges after Bybit’s cold-wallet compromise, rather than treating hot, warm, and cold labels as sufficient evidence of safety.
Third-order effects
- Repeated breaches across different wallet types push centralized exchanges toward competing on verifiable incident response, reserve protection, and continuity of customer access—not only on trading features.
- If withdrawal suspensions remain a recurring response to wallet compromises, the custody model’s legitimacy gap will increasingly hinge on whether exchanges can isolate losses without freezing customers out.
The trend: Centralized crypto exchanges are being judged less by the wallet tier they cite and more by whether their controls and customer protections hold during a security incident.