Bitget has reopened Bitcoin withdrawals after the hack: what Gracy Chen said and when the other coins come back

Are Bitget withdrawals open? Yes, for BTC — what we know as of September 28

• Bitcoin withdrawals on the Bitcoin network went live on September 28 at 08:00 UTC, in line with the schedule the exchange published on September 26.
• In the first 50 minutes, the exchange processed 7,683 requests totaling about 3,609 BTC with no queue, Gracy Chen said on the stream. By then, 6,946 of them had already been confirmed on the blockchain.
• The money for withdrawals comes from the protection fund: its 5,500 BTC are being moved to the exchange's hot wallet in batches. Shortly after withdrawals opened, on-chain analyst Ai Yi counted 2,042 BTC already transferred, worth about $169 million.
• No one gets priority: according to Xie Jiayin, regular users, VIPs and influencers (KOLs) got withdrawal access at the same time.
• During the stream, Chen and Xie Jiayin said BTC withdrawals had also opened via the BNB Smart Chain network.
• Bitget promises to restore withdrawals for all coins by Friday, October 2. Ether (ETH) is next in line — tomorrow, September 29, at 08:00 UTC.
• Trading and deposits have kept working the whole time and still work now.

Bitget withdrawal schedule by coin

Each phase starts at 08:00 UTC. Until a coin's turn comes, you can't send it to your own wallet or use it for a crypto swap outside Bitget.

Bitget AMA recap: what Gracy Chen and Xie Jiayin said

The stream started at 07:30 UTC. Here are the highlights:

• How Bitget was hacked. This is the first security incident in Bitget's eight years of operation, Gracy Chen admitted. According to her, the attackers found a vulnerability in a third-party security product and used it to steal internal network credentials. They then sent the wallet system forged withdrawal commands, and it processed the transfers, bypassing risk checks. No private keys were leaked, cold wallets were not affected, and the exchange promises to disclose the technical details in a security report.
• No malware, no insider. Xie Jiayin called the attack targeted and highly sophisticated: the attackers used no viruses or malware, operating instead under legitimate accounts, passing their activity off as routine admin work and covering their tracks. The exchange has completely ruled out a key leak and any employee involvement, he said.
• What's been fixed. According to Xie Jiayin, the vulnerability has been patched, and the exchange has taken four steps: it took the affected servers offline; revoked and reissued all internal credentials and re-segmented high-privilege access; shared the vulnerability details with the product's developer and is helping with the fix; and now puts every withdrawal through an independent check. Together with Mandiant and SlowMist, the exchange is running an independent audit and promises to keep a closer eye on third-party components.
• Who will pay. The user protection fund, worth about $464 million, takes on the entire loss, and the hack ate up roughly 84% of it. According to the exchange, customer balances were not affected. Bitget's own funds together with the fund exceed $1.4 billion, Chen said, and within a week the exchange will top the fund up to at least $300 million — the floor it promised to maintain when it set up the fund in 2022.
• Why all withdrawals were shut down. Xie Jiayin explained that the attack hit several networks at once, not just one coin, and each network has to be fixed and checked separately — which is why withdrawals are coming back in stages. The pause has nothing to do with money, he said: Bitget's proof of reserves stands at 127%.

Bitget hack: where are the stolen funds now?

• Losses: $387.5 million. The exchange raised its initial estimate of $351.6 million, the figure in our first breakdown of the Bitget attack, on September 25, when it added transfers in Zcash and TRON to the count.
• The first laundering run. On September 27, AMLBot analysts traced the long trail of about 4 BTC: the hacker swapped TRX for USDT on the TRON network, moved it to Ethereum over the USDT0 bridge, bought about 145 ETH, turned that into 4.59 BTC through THORChain and sent it into the Wasabi CoinJoin mixer.
• Now it's ETH into Bitcoin. On the morning of September 28, Lookonchain spotted the attacker swapping stolen ETH for Bitcoin, again through THORChain.
• The bulk sat idle. According to AMLBot data as of September 25, about $343 million — 88% of the stolen funds — was held in 13 of the attacker's wallets.
• No official attribution yet. The CEO pointed to IP address and VPN matches with a North Korea-linked group, and TRM Labs found overlaps with wallets used to launder funds after the Bybit hack.
• A reward for help. Bitget promises 5% of any amount that gets frozen and another 5% of whatever is recovered. Mandiant and SlowMist are leading the investigation.

How to withdraw BTC from Bitget safely

• Withdraw to your own wallet, not to another exchange. You hold its keys, so the next platform hack won't touch you. Yesterday we explained in detail the difference between custodial and non-custodial wallets.
• Choose the Bitcoin network. If BNB Smart Chain shows up in the network list, keep in mind that what arrives there isn't Bitcoin itself but its token on another network. To get real BTC into your own wallet, withdraw over the Bitcoin network — to an address that starts with bc1, 1 or 3.
• Start with a small amount. Make sure the address and network are correct, and only then withdraw the rest.
• Don't fall for “fast withdrawals.” Fake support teams pop up after every major hack, and Bitget has already warned about impersonator accounts. Withdrawals opened for everyone at the same time, so paying for a “spot in the queue” is a scam. No real employee will ever ask for your seed phrase or two-factor codes.

How to swap BTC for USDT or Monero after withdrawing

You don't have to keep the Bitcoin you withdraw as it is. If you'd rather sit things out in dollars, you can exchange BTC to USDT TRC20 without registration, and if privacy matters more, you can swap Bitcoin for Monero right into your own wallet. With VertEXchange you don't need an account for either, and the coins arrive straight at your address.