Bitget CEO Gracy Chen expresses low confidence in recovering funds from the exchange's $388M security breach, citing the 2025 Bybit hack as a cautionary precedent.
Security & Exploits ·
Bitget CEO Gracy Chen has signaled limited confidence in recovering funds lost to the exchange's $388 million security breach. In discussing the incident with Cointelegraph, Chen cited the 2025 Bybit hack as a reference point, noting that only a small percentage of stolen assets had been frozen or recovered in that case.
Partial recovery efforts are underway. The NEAR Intents team blocked over $50 million in breach-related assets and froze approximately $500,000, while stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle blacklisted a wallet tied to the exploit, freezing $318,013 in USDT and USDC. Bitget launched a bounty program offering 5% of frozen funds and 5% of recovered funds to incentivize additional mitigation. The exchange has begun resuming withdrawals in stages, starting with Bitcoin transactions.
The source of the breach remains under investigation. Chen initially suggested that North Korean actors may have been responsible based on IP addresses and VPN patterns, though she acknowledged investigators had not fully ruled out an inside job. The $388 million figure represents a revision from Bitget's initial report of $352 million in losses, reflecting what Chen described as a more complete accounting of transfers.