Bitget Resumes Withdrawals After $387M Hack
Bitget resumes withdrawals after its $387.5 million security incident as stolen assets moving through THORChain trigger a dispute over blocking.
Bitget has started allowing crypto withdrawals four days after the security breach on September 24, giving customers the first indication that regular asset movement is resuming. Bitcoin withdrawals started on September 28 at 8:00 UTC; additional withdrawals of other assets are likely to occur gradually.
The exchange currently estimates that the affected amount is about $387.5 million after additional transaction classification. In the meantime, a parallel debate over whether decentralised protocols must prohibit specific addresses has been sparked by the transfer of stolen funds through THORChain.
Bitget Begins Phased Withdrawal Restoration
As part of Bitget's planned restoration phase, Bitcoin withdrawals are now available on the Bitcoin network. According to the exchange's schedule, Ethereum withdrawals from Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism will take place on September 29. Ethereum, BSC, Solana, and Tron withdrawals of USDT are planned for September 30.
On October 2, P2P services, fiat, and other supported tokens will be available. Instead of reopening every asset at once, Bitget says that the staged approach will allow its security and technical staff to finish validation across the entire infrastructure.
The exchange claimed to have found and fixed the underlying issue. The inquiry is being supported by Mandiant and SlowMist, and more security assessments are ongoing. Additionally, Bitget reports that the situation has been contained and that no additional unauthorised transfers have been found.
Bitget has begun the phased resumption of withdrawals following the security incident identified on September 24, with BTC withdrawals on the Bitcoin network started at 08:00 UTC on September 28 as scheduled.
— Bitget (@bitget) September 28, 2026
The resumption follows additional security work across Bitget's…
What Changed From the Earlier Bitget Update
The most recent estimate is roughly $387.5 million, which is more than the $351.6 million estimate given in the previous EtherWorld article, Bitget Freezes Withdrawals After $351.6M Hack.
Bitget claims that the rise is not suggestive of a new theft wave. Rather, further impacted assets involving Zcash and TRON were discovered through additional transaction classification. Transfers between Ethereum and various EVM networks, XRP Ledger, Zcash, and TRON are also included in the updated accounting.
This distinction is important since the updated number represents a more thorough evaluation of the first event rather than a new loss following the exchange that contained the attack.
THORChain Becomes the New Flashpoint
Beyond Bitget itself, the more controversial development has surfaced. After some of the stolen funds passed through THORChain, Bitget asked that the protocol stop any activity associated with the attacker.
A controlled exchange and a decentralised liquidity protocol differ fundamentally, as THORChain's stance makes clear. Bitget has the ability to detect addresses linked to an issue and restrict activities within its own infrastructure. THORChain, on the other hand, has maintained that it typically does not halt transactions only because an external entity has identified a certain address.
This idea has been contrasted by the protocol with the way Bitcoin operates, which lacks a central authority that may block certain addresses. Therefore, THORChain's strategy extends the inquiry beyond this particular instance. Whether a decentralised protocol should step in when assets connected to a centralised exchange attack flow via its infrastructure is at issue.
There are now two opposing issues. While THORChain's response focuses on upholding rules that remain unchanged for specific addresses, Bitget is concentrated on tracking and maybe containing stolen assets.
Please note that BTC withdrawal on BSC Network is also now open.
— Bitget (@bitget) September 28, 2026
Earlier today, our CEO Gracy Chen addressed the incident and community inquiries during a live AMA.
Watch the replay here: https://t.co/nPO1mWftpP
The investigation found that the attacker exploited a…
The Debate Moves Beyond Bitget
The Bitget event now has a second dimension due to the controversy. Restoring withdrawals while finishing security validation is the exchange's current problem. What decentralised infrastructure should do when stolen money enters an open cross-chain trading system is a different matter.
Bitget is still conducting its own investigation. According to its most recent security update, the company has started a recovery bounty program, is collaborating with outside cybersecurity experts, and is still working on fund tracking and recovery.
The immediate timeline is more understandable to users. Withdrawals from Bitcoin have resumed, followed by ETH and USDT. According to the current plan, the remaining supported assets and fiat services should resume by October 2.
However, the THORChain debate poses a separate issue that cannot be addressed by merely reopening withdrawals. Moving the stolen assets is a crucial component of what happens next because it challenges the exchange's recovery efforts against the declared transaction neutrality of a decentralised protocol.
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