Crypto Exchange Bitget Loses $387 Million in Hack Its CEO Blames on North Korea

Hackers drained $387.5 million from the hot and warm wallets of crypto exchange Bitget in a breach detected on September 24, according to Decrypt. The company's security systems flagged unauthorized transfers at 18:31 UTC that day.

Within about an hour, on-chain investigators had already tracked roughly $183 million in stablecoins, Ethereum and other assets leaving wallets tied to Bitget, Decrypt reported.

The confirmed total climbed to $351.6 million when Bitget went public with the breach, then rose again to $387.5 million the next day.

How the Breach Happened

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said in a livestream and posts on X that attackers did not steal private keys or forge user withdrawal requests.

Instead, she said, hackers broke into a backend system inside the exchange's wallet infrastructure and spoofed transaction data, tricking Bitget's own authorization process into approving payouts that looked routine.

The stolen funds moved across at least five blockchains, Decrypt reported. The single largest piece was about 103 million XRP, worth roughly $157 million.

Withdrawals were frozen as a precaution. Deposits and trading continued without interruption.

North Korea Named as Suspect

Chen has pointed to Pyongyang as the likely source of the attack, though she stopped short of a formal confirmation.