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.

Bloomberg 2026-09-25 Matthew Brockett

Context & Ripple Effects

Exchange breaches have repeatedly turned custody design into a trust test: Bitstamp suspended trading after a suspected breach in 2015, while FTX US moved funds to cold wallets amid unauthorized transactions in 2022. The 2025 Bybit cold-wallet compromise also showed that moving assets offline is not, by itself, a complete security answer.

Bitget's incident puts withdrawal availability, emergency containment and its assurance that customer balances are protected under immediate scrutiny. The same pattern has produced sharply different customer outcomes, including Crypto.com's same-day reimbursement after its 2022 breach.

First-order effects

Bitget customers lose access to withdrawals while the exchange contains the unauthorized transfers and runs its emergency response.
Bitget must support Gracy Chen's assertion that user funds are safe with recovery and continuity measures, rather than relying on the claim alone.

Second-order effects

Other centralized exchanges face greater pressure from customers to explain how their hot, warm and cold wallet controls limit both theft and withdrawal disruption.
The prior Bybit suspicious outflows and Bitget incident make wallet tiering a less persuasive standalone signal of exchange security; operational controls and incident response become more consequential.

Third-order effects

Repeated compromises across hot, warm and cold custody arrangements shift the competitive basis for centralized exchanges toward demonstrable resilience, recovery capacity and transparent crisis communication.
If such incidents continue, the crypto legitimacy gap will be defined as much by whether customers can access balances during a breach as by the size of losses reported.

The trend: Centralized crypto exchanges are being judged less on custody labels and more on whether their security operations preserve customer access and confidence during an incident.

Discussion

@gracybitget @gracybitget on x
[SECURITY NOTICE] Bitget Hot Wallet Incident — September 24, 2026 At 18:31 UTC on September 24, 2026, Bitget's security systems detected unauthorized transfers from some of our hot wallets. Our security team activated emergency response protocols immediately. What we have confirm…
@bitget @bitget on x
At 18:31 UTC on September 24, 2026, Bitget's security systems identified unauthorized transfers involving a limited number of hot wallets. Our security team immediately activated emergency response procedures and began a full investigation. Based on our current assessment, approx…
@p3b7_ Charles Guillemet on x
🚨 Bidget's hot wallets were drained. Over $350M was stolen, possibly the largest hack of the year. Security in crypto has always been hard. AI is making vulnerability research and exploits cheaper, which widens the asymmetry in favor of attackers. Closing that gap means reworking…
@crypto_bitlord7 @crypto_bitlord7 on x
They have $464m in a “User protection fund” so your funds are safu thank god. Now let's catch the bad guys and return the $170m 🙏
@bitget @bitget on x
Our CEO, @GracyBitget will host a live update in few minutes to address the incident directly. Transparency remains our priority. We'll share more information soon.
Suvashree Ghosh Suvashree Ghosh on linkedin
Another day, another hack, another hit to institutional trust in crypto infrastructure. — Crypto exchange Bitget has reported an estimated $351.6 million …

Chronicles