Crypto exchange Bitget suspended withdrawals after hack
The cryptocurrency exchange Bitget faced a serious security incident. On September 24, 2026, its systems detected unauthorized transfers from part of its hot wallets. According to the exchange's own preliminary estimate, the attack affected crypto assets worth approximately $351.6 million.
At the moment, the main consequence for Bitget clients is that withdrawals from the exchange have been suspended. Bitget states that deposits and trading operations continue to work, and user balances are displayed correctly.
What happened with Bitget
According to Bitget, the exchange's security systems detected suspicious transfers at 18:31 UTC on September 24. It involved part of the hot and warm wallets — that is, the wallets used by the exchange for operational transactions.
The company claims that its cold wallets, which are in a more isolated storage infrastructure, were not affected. Bitget also stated that only part of the relevant infrastructure was compromised, not the entire asset storage system.
However, the scale of the incident turned out to be significant. According to Bitget's official assessment, the total volume of affected assets is about $351.6 million. Independent blockchain researchers also tracked large movements of ETH, USDT, USDC, BNB, AVAX and other assets from addresses associated with the exchange.
Thus, this is not a minor technical malfunction, but one of the largest hacks of a cryptocurrency exchange in 2026.
Withdrawal from Bitget is currently impossible
For ordinary users, the most important thing right now is not so much the fact of cryptocurrency theft, but the ability to access their own assets.
Bitget has officially announced a temporary suspension of all withdrawals. The exchange explained this by the need to conduct a security audit and eliminate the consequences of the incident. At the same time, the exact time for resuming withdrawals has not yet been announced.
Bitget emphasizes that:
- client balances remain correct;
- cold wallets were not affected;
- deposits continue to work;
- trading on the platform continues;
- withdrawals are temporarily unavailable;
- law enforcement agencies and blockchain analysis specialists have been involved in the investigation.
For cryptocurrency owners, this is a fundamentally important point. As long as funds are on the exchange and withdrawals are blocked, the user effectively cannot independently move assets to another address or a hardware wallet.
Bitget claims to have a user protection fund
One of Bitget's main arguments to reassure clients was the statement about having a special user protection fund.
According to Bitget CEO Gracie Chen, at the time of the incident the User Protection Fund exceeded $464 million, and the claimed losses of about $351.6 million are fully covered by the size of this fund.
That is, Bitget claims that the financial resources of the fund are sufficient to cover the damage.
However, users should distinguish between two things: the claim of having a fund and the actual restoration of the ability to withdraw funds are not the same. As long as withdrawals remain suspended, the final assessment of the situation will depend on the results of the investigation and the subsequent actions of the exchange.
What about Ukrainians' money
For the Ukrainian crypto market, the situation is also of great importance.
Bitget is available to users from Ukraine, and the exchange provides a Ukrainian version of its services and directly indicates the possibility for users from Ukraine to buy cryptocurrency.
Bitget is also among the cryptocurrency platforms used by Ukrainians. In a study on the popularity of crypto exchanges in Ukraine, published in 2025, Bitget held a prominent place among international platforms. The study also emphasized that Ukrainian users on average use several crypto exchanges at once.
Therefore, the current suspension of withdrawals potentially affects a significant number of Ukrainian cryptocurrency holders.
At the same time, no publicly confirmed statistics from Bitget on exactly how many Ukrainian clients currently have assets on the exchange have been found in the company's open materials. Therefore, it is still incorrect to speak of specific "tens of thousands of Ukrainians" as an officially confirmed figure. However, for the Ukrainian crypto audience, the problem is quite real: Bitget serves Ukrainian clients, and users from Ukraine use this platform for buying, storing and trading cryptocurrencies.
Why the Bitget hack is especially important
The incident once again demonstrates one of the main risks of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges.
A user may see on their account screen, for example, 0.5 BTC, 10 ETH or a certain amount of USDT. But actual control of the cryptocurrency is carried out through the exchange's infrastructure until the assets are withdrawn to the user's own wallet.
This is why the well-known principle in the crypto space exists: "not your keys — not your coins".
At the same time, it cannot be said that Bitget lost all client funds. On the contrary, the exchange itself claims that the incident was limited to a portion of hot and warm wallets, cold wallets remained safe, and the damage is covered by the user protection fund.
But the very possibility of unauthorized movement of hundreds of millions of dollars in assets shows how significant infrastructure risk remains when storing cryptocurrency on a centralized platform.
How events are developing
Bitget stated that it is continuing the investigation and intends to publish updates. The company also promised to prepare a detailed report with an analysis of the cause of the incident and the measures taken.
The exact attack mechanism has not yet been publicly established. Bitget separately emphasized that it will not speculate on the method by which the attackers entered the system until the investigation is completed.
Therefore, reports about specific hacker groups or alleged organizers of the attack should still be considered as versions, not as established facts.
What Bitget clients should do
Bitget users should first of all remain calm and rely on the official statements of the exchange.
Do not:
- give anyone your password, 2FA code, or account recovery data;
- follow links from unverified messages about "refunds";
- send cryptocurrency to unknown recipients who promise to speed up withdrawal;
- pay intermediaries for "unlocking" your account;
- install programs or applications that are supposedly needed to restore funds.
A second wave of fraud can become especially dangerous. After major hacks, messages often appear from fraudsters posing as exchange employees and offering clients to "recover" frozen funds.
Users with assets on Bitget should verify information directly through the exchange's official channels and not trust messages from unknown "support services".
What happens next
For the market, the key question now is not only the size of the damage at $351.6 million, but also when Bitget will resume withdrawals and how the damage will be compensated if client assets were indeed affected.
At the moment, Bitget's position is that user funds are protected, cold wallets were not harmed, and the claimed damage is fully covered by the protection fund of more than $464 million.
However, final conclusions can only be made after the publication of a complete incident report and the restoration of normal withdrawal operations.
For the entire cryptocurrency market, this case is another reminder: even a large centralized exchange with multi-billion turnover does not exclude technical and cyber risks. And for Ukrainian users of Bitget, the situation is particularly sensitive because the platform is used by clients from Ukraine and actual access to their assets on it is now temporarily limited.
At the time of writing, withdrawal of funds from Bitget remains suspended. Therefore, holders of assets on the exchange should follow official Bitget updates, not the numerous reports and rumors that appear around the hack.
