Bitget is cutting off users in Russia and Belarus: deadlines, leftover balances and how to withdraw your coins in time

What Bitget announced

On October 16, Bitget updated its terms of use: the "Prohibited Countries" section now lists Russia and Belarus. Until now the list covered only certain regions from this part of the map: Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk. Kazakhstan and Thailand are now on the same list too, and Interfax and InvestFuture name Kazakhstan among the countries added on October 16.

Affected users received emails and in-app notifications with deadlines. According to Russian news agency Interfax, Russian tech outlet Kod.ru and Russian investment media InvestFuture, the dates are as follows:

Sources disagree on the last row: Interfax says 10:00, while Kod.ru, citing the email itself, says 19:00 Moscow time. Plan around the earlier time and the date in your own email, since, according to The Defiant, deadlines can differ from account to account.

Bitget itself described the move on X as a "one-off exercise" affecting "some users" and said funds are safe. The post named neither the countries nor the reason. Users who haven't received a notice are told to keep using their accounts as usual.

What happens to your coins if you miss the deadline

• Open positions will be closed automatically. The notices say so directly, which means you no longer get to choose the closing price.
• The account will be restricted. After that, according to Kod.ru, the only way to get your remaining balance back is through support, which means a ticket, a wait and a lot of back-and-forth.
• Small balances may be kept. Russian tech outlet vc.ru reports that balances under 10 USDT may be charged as an account closure fee. We didn't find this in any official text, but it's still not worth leaving small change behind.

Bitget's terms already allow the exchange to restrict withdrawals, cancel orders and close positions without warning. So counting on "I'll just write to support later" is a bad bet; it's far simpler to withdraw everything now.

How to withdraw from Bitget before October 21

We already have a detailed walkthrough with screenshots, networks and fees: how to withdraw crypto from Bitget to your own wallet. Here is the short version of what matters right now.

1. Free up your balance. Coins in open orders, Earn, copy trading and sub-accounts can't be withdrawn. Close your orders, pull funds out of products and move everything to your main spot account. Early redemption from Earn can take time, so start there.
2. Don't touch your security settings. Changing your password, email, phone number or Google Authenticator locks withdrawals for 24 hours. In the last days before the deadline, that's a price you can't afford.
3. Get an address ready. Your coins should go to an address you hold the keys to. If you need to swap the coin right away, say USDT for bitcoin, a no-KYC crypto exchange will give you a deposit address for your order.
4. Pick the receiving network. For USDT, BEP20 is the cheapest, followed by Solana and TRC20, but the network has to match the address. Check the fee and the minimum in the withdrawal window, as both change.
5. Send a small test amount first. Once it arrives, withdraw the rest.

What not to do

• Don't log in through a VPN. Bitget's terms explicitly prohibit getting around country restrictions. Logging in from "another country" will more likely end in a frozen account than in an extended deadline.
• Don't withdraw to sanctioned platforms. Bitget's official Chinese-language account warned that it will block accounts linked to deposits and withdrawals through sanctioned platforms. Withdraw to your own wallet.
• Don't trust "support" in messaging apps. Bitget itself warns of phishing riding on the news. Real support never asks for your seed phrase or SMS codes and never offers to "speed up your withdrawal" in exchange for a transfer.

Why Bitget is leaving now

The exchange hasn't given a reason. Belarusian experts interviewed by Belarusian outlet Nasha Niva link the decision to Western sanctions. This isn't Bitget's first exit of this kind: the exchange left France in March 2026, is leaving Japan now, and in Belarus its website was blocked by the Ministry of Information, along with Bybit and OKX, back in December 2025.

Russian users have been through this before. Binance left Russia in September 2023 by selling its business there to the CommEX exchange, which then announced its closure in March 2024. The script is the same every time: a deadline to withdraw and close positions, then a restricted account.

Apart from the timing, nobody has tied the exit from Russia to the Bitget hack on September 24, which Chainalysis estimates at around $387 million. Taken together, though, both events are a reminder: coins on an exchange stay yours exactly as long as the exchange is willing to hand them over.

Where to withdraw: your own wallet rather than another exchange

Moving everything to the next exchange over looks like the easiest option, but all it does is leave you waiting for the next email. It's safer to keep your coins where you hold the keys. We've covered the difference between custodial and non-custodial wallets and how to choose one in a separate guide; setting one up takes about ten minutes.

If you're pulling USDT off Bitget but would rather hold bitcoin, there's no need to swap it on another exchange. You can exchange USDT TRC20 to bitcoin without registration and receive BTC straight to your own address. If you're withdrawing on BNB Smart Chain, the closer fit is to swap USDT BEP20 to BTC.

Swaps without an account: coins straight to your address

VertEXchange has no account that an email can restrict: you don't need to register or give an email or phone number to swap. You pick a pair, paste your wallet address and see the rate and the amount you'll receive before you send anything. The coins go straight to your address, and the service doesn't hold them.

• A fixed rate is held for about 15 minutes while your transfer confirms.
• You can set a refund address, where your coins will be returned if the swap doesn't go through.
• Personal fields of an operation are deleted 24 hours after it completes, and your swap history is stored only in your browser.
• Support chat is available on every page, and issues are resolved by your swap code.

If keeping your savings private matters to you, you can convert part of your USDT to Monero right away: its blockchain hides both amounts and addresses.

FAQ

What is the deadline to withdraw funds from Bitget?

According to the notices reported by Interfax and Kod.ru, it's October 21, 2026, 10:00 Moscow time (MSK). New trades are blocked earlier, on October 18 at 10:00. Check the date against your own email, as deadlines can differ between accounts.

Does this affect Kazakhstan?

Kazakhstan is on Bitget's updated list of prohibited countries, and Interfax and InvestFuture name it among the countries added on October 16. If you haven't received a closure email, the exchange advises using your account as usual.

What happens to open futures positions?

Positions not closed by the deadline will be closed automatically by the exchange. The notices don't mention futures separately, but they do say all positions will be closed.

Is Bitget Wallet affected?

The announcement doesn't mention Bitget Wallet. It's a separate non-custodial wallet where the user holds the keys, so restrictions on an exchange account don't block the coins stored in it. The fiat purchase services built into it may change.

Can I withdraw funds after October 21?

According to Kod.ru, once an account is restricted, the remaining balance can only be returned through support. There's no official word on how long that takes or whether a fee will be withheld, so it's better to withdraw before the deadline.