Bitget hit by $350mn theft in largest hack so far this year

By the Editorial Team · Saturday, September 26, 2026

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget suffered a theft of nearly $352 million from customer wallets, leading the company to halt withdrawals while compensating losses through its User Protection Fund. The breach, linked by investigators to North Korean hacking groups, highlights the ongoing threat posed by state-backed cybercriminals targeting the crypto industry.

Nearly $352 million was stolen from cryptocurrency exchange Bitget in what is reported as the largest digital asset theft of 2026 to date. The exchange's chief executive, Gracy Chen, announced that its systems detected the breach at 6:31 p.m. GMT on Thursday, prompting the company to freeze customer withdrawals as a precaution.

Chen stated that the stolen funds, taken from customers’ wallets, would be compensated through Bitget’s User Protection Fund, which currently holds over $464 million. She added that withdrawals would resume only after the company confirms it is safe to do so.

According to forensic blockchain analysis and the exchange’s investigation, the attack methods show strong similarities to those used by hacker groups associated with North Korea. Chen pointed to IP behavior and on-chain transaction patterns as evidence linking the incident to these groups. This follows a pattern noted by TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics firm, which has identified North Korea as the largest source of stolen crypto value in 2026, referring to “state-directed financial operations involving sophisticated infrastructure compromises.”

The Bitget breach follows a series of high-profile crypto thefts, including the $319 million bitcoin heist from the Liquid Network in September and a $292 million hack targeting infrastructure used by the Kelp DAO decentralized protocol in April. In total, TRM Labs reported that $1.73 billion had been stolen across 333 incidents involving crypto platforms earlier this year.

North Korean hackers have become increasingly active in the sector, with a notable example occurring in February 2025, when they drained $1.5 billion from the Bybit exchange, marking the largest single crypto hack on record. The FBI has warned that stolen assets from such cyberattacks are often laundered and eventually converted into fiat currency, complicating recovery efforts.

Bitget, founded in 2018, is ranked as the world’s fifth largest cryptocurrency exchange by spot trading volumes. The stolen assets reportedly included various tokens such as ether (ETH), XRP, and stablecoins like USDC and USDT, taken from multiple blockchain networks, including Ethereum, XRP Ledger, and Base.

In response to the hack, Bitget confirmed it is collaborating with law enforcement authorities, blockchain security firms, and the operators of the affected blockchains. Some of these entities have already identified wallets linked to the hackers and taken steps to freeze their contents, according to Chen. The investigation and mitigation efforts are ongoing as the company seeks to secure its systems and protect its customers.

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