Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has confirmed that approximately $351.6 million was drained from its hot and warm wallets following an unauthorized security breach.

The suspicious activity was flagged by the exchange’s security systems at 18:31 UTC on Thursday, prompting the immediate activation of emergency response protocols and a temporary suspension of platform withdrawals. Deposits and trading, however, have remained fully operational.

Bitget Chief Executive Officer Gracy Chen stated that the breach was strictly isolated to a portion of the hot and warm wallet infrastructure. She confirmed that all offline cold wallets remain entirely secure and unaffected.

Addressing user concerns, Chen assured customers that their balances are safe and that the full financial loss will be absorbed by the exchange’s User Protection Fund, which currently holds over $464 million.

Providing technical updates on the incident, Chen ruled out a private key compromise, explaining that attackers instead infiltrated a critical backend system. The threat actors reportedly utilized this access to spoof transaction data and manipulate authorization protocols to siphon funds.

The affected digital assets span multiple blockchains and tokens, including ETH, XRP, BNB, AVAX, USDT, and USDC. Bitget noted that its decentralized product, Bitget Wallet, operates independently and experienced zero impact from the exploit.

In response to the breach, the exchange has contacted blockchain network foundations to freeze targeted addresses and is actively collaborating with global law enforcement and on-chain security firms.

Preliminary behavioural patterns and on-chain tracking have revealed operational similarities to known North Korean hacking syndicates, though formal attribution is still pending.

Bitget has not yet announced a definitive timeline for resuming normal withdrawals, emphasizing that technical teams are prioritizing thorough system remediation and security hardening before restoring full services.