Bitget Reports Recovery as Protection Fund Absorbs $388 Million Loss

Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange, is gradually returning to normal operations following a significant security breach that resulted in the loss of $388 million in user funds. CEO Gracy Chen reported this development in a recent post on X, stating that withdrawals for all tokens would resume on Friday. Users have already regained access to their Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and USDt (USDT) accounts. As part of the recovery efforts, Bitget's Protection Fund has reached $309 million, which was initially established in January 2022 with 5,500 BTC to reimburse users for losses not caused by user misconduct or platform failures.

Chen emphasized that the Protection Fund was designed for situations like this, effectively absorbing the financial impact of the breach. He also mentioned that the company is still investigating the incident and has not ruled out the possibility of an inside job or involvement from North Korean hackers. In response to the attack, Bitget has initiated a bounty program, offering 5% of the frozen funds and an additional 5% for any recovered assets.

In a related development, blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported that wallets associated with the Bitget hack have moved approximately $3.8 million in Zcash (ZEC) into the network's Ironwood pool. This transaction represents about 14% of the total 18,917 ZEC stolen during the attack. The company is actively working to recover the stolen funds and ensure user security moving forward.