Bitget announced that Bitcoin withdrawals have resumed after a security incident that resulted in roughly $387 million in losses, but withdrawals for Ethereum-based assets and Tether remain suspended pending further testing.

Timeline of the breach and response

On September 24, Bitget’s monitoring tools flagged unauthorized movements from several hot wallets. The firm immediately halted all withdrawals while keeping deposits and trading open. Initial estimates placed the stolen amount at $351.6 million, a figure later revised to $387.5 million after additional transactions were identified.

In the days that followed, Bitget outlined a staged plan to restore withdrawal capabilities. The schedule set 08:00 UTC as the cutoff for each phase:

  • September 28 – Bitcoin on its native network
  • September 29 – Ethereum and compatible chains (BSC, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism)
  • September 30 – USDT on Ethereum, BSC, Solana, and Tron
  • October 2 – Remaining tokens, fiat, and peer-to-peer services

By the end of September 28, the exchange confirmed that Bitcoin withdrawals were open, though it did not disclose whether individual transactions had been successfully completed.

Current status of trading and order book depth

Even as withdrawals were paused, Bitget’s futures market stayed active. A snapshot taken at 04:20 UTC on September 28 showed 100 fills each for BTC-USDT and ETH-USDT contracts within a few seconds. The displayed order book held roughly $22 million in Bitcoin futures and $10 million in Ethereum futures, with spreads well within 0.05% of the midpoint price.

A TokenInsight analysis, conducted before the breach, had ranked Bitget among the top venues for combined BTC and ETH futures depth. However, the study ended prior to the incident, so any post-breach changes in market positioning remain unquantified.

Protection fund and customer balances

Bitget asserts that customer balances have not been directly affected and that its internal Protection Fund will absorb the financial impact of the hack. The fund’s coverage is intended to safeguard users while the exchange validates the withdrawal process across each network.

Upcoming steps for Ethereum and USDT withdrawals

The next milestones involve reactivating withdrawals on Ethereum and the associated layer-2 and side-chain networks on September 29, followed by the release of USDT on multiple chains on September 30. Each phase will be tested separately to ensure that transfers can be completed without further compromise.

Why it matters

The incident underscores the vulnerability of centralized exchanges to hot-wallet attacks and the importance of robust contingency plans. Bitget’s phased reopening aims to restore confidence by demonstrating that withdrawals can be safely processed, starting with Bitcoin, the most liquid asset on the platform. The exchange’s reliance on a Protection Fund to cover losses also highlights a growing trend among custodial services to provide insurance-like guarantees, which may become a competitive differentiator in an industry still grappling with security challenges.

--- All figures and dates are drawn from the exchange’s public statements and subsequent reporting.