Bitget $351.6M Hack Probe Points to Backend Breach as Private-Key Leak Is Ruled Out

Bitget’s preliminary investigation into the September 24 hack has focused on its backend wallet infrastructure. The exchange stated that there were no private keys exposed during the hack. An estimated $351.6 million was hacked in the breach. However, deposits and trading on the exchange continued; only withdrawals were suspended during the incident.

Bitget reported that the withdrawals were unauthorized at 18:31 UTC, and emergency measures were taken within a few minutes. The exploit impacted some hot and warm wallets on the exchange, but the cold wallets remained unbreached.

Bitget also stated that the balances were correct, and the loss was covered by the User Protection Fund, which had a balance of more than $464 million. Authorities and blockchain security firms also took notice.

The exchange reported that those abnormal destination addresses were flagged and relayed. Withdrawals have no fixed reset time and will be opened only after a security review.

In a livestream Q&A, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen shared that the team had ruled out the possibility of private key leakage in Bitget’s wallet architecture, and that attackers had entered Bitget’s exchanges and transferred out assets.

A preliminary analysis shows that the core backend wallet service has been compromised, and the fraudulent transaction has already reached the approval-signature stage. However, Bitget has yet to provide further technical details. This will remain until the final investigative determination.