Bitget Restores Bitcoin Withdrawals After $388M Hack
Bitget has resumed Bitcoin withdrawals days after a $388 million hack, with ETH and USDt access set to follow later this week.
Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has begun restoring withdrawal services to its users following a major security breach last week that resulted in approximately $388 million in losses — one of the more significant exchange hacks in recent memory. Bitcoin withdrawals were the first to come back online as the platform works through a phased recovery of its services.
According to Bitget's restoration timeline, Ether withdrawals are expected to resume on Tuesday, with USDt access returning on Wednesday. The sequenced rollout suggests the exchange is prioritizing stability and security verification for each asset class before granting broader access, a cautious approach that reflects lessons learned from past exchange collapses where premature reopening accelerated user losses.
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Complicating the recovery picture, the hacker responsible for the breach has reportedly been moving stolen Ether through THORChain, a decentralized cross-chain liquidity protocol that allows asset swaps without a central intermediary. THORChain has drawn scrutiny in prior incidents for its utility to bad actors seeking to obscure the origin of stolen funds, since it does not require identity verification and operates across multiple blockchain networks.
The use of THORChain by the attacker underscores a persistent challenge facing the crypto industry: even as centralized exchanges invest in security infrastructure, decentralized protocols can serve as an effective laundering conduit once funds are extracted. Regulators and blockchain analytics firms have increasingly flagged cross-chain swaps as a high-risk vector in post-hack asset recovery efforts.
Bitget has not yet disclosed the full technical details of how the breach occurred, leaving users and observers awaiting a post-mortem that could clarify whether the vulnerability was internal or external. The incident adds fresh urgency to ongoing debates about exchange security standards and the adequacy of proof-of-reserves disclosures. Continue reading at Cointelegraph.
