Key points
Bitget said on Sept. 30 that its Protection Fund is back above $300 million, two days after committing to restore it within a week The exchange now puts the financial impact of the Sept. 24 breach at approximately $388 million, higher than the figure given at the time Withdrawal services are resuming in phases, and a Proof of Reserves snapshot published Sept. 30 shows all 19 assets above a 100% reserve ratio Mandiant and SlowMist have been engaged on the forensic investigation, and fund tracing is continuing
Crypto exchange Bitget on Thursday said it has replenished its Protection Fund to more than $300 million, six days after the security breach that drained its hot wallets and forced the exchange to suspend withdrawals.
The exchange committed on Sept. 28 to restoring the fund within a week. It announced the restoration on Sept. 30, two days later.
What The Fund Covers
The Protection Fund was set up in 2022 with 5,500 BTC and a stated minimum value of $300 million. It sits separately from the reserves backing customer balances, and Bitget publishes the wallet addresses so the holdings can be checked on-chain.
Bitget designated the fund to absorb the cost of the September incident, which it says left account balances accurate and unaffected.
"The Protection Fund was created for moments like this and absorbed the financial impact of the incident," chief executive Gracy Chen said. "We said we would bring it back to at least $300 million within a week, and we have done that."
How The Week Started
Bitget detected unauthorized transfers from its hot wallets at 18:31 UTC on Sept. 24 and said emergency protocols were triggered within minutes. Cold wallets were not affected, the company said, describing a three-tier architecture in which the damage reached parts of the hot and warm layers.
Withdrawals were suspended that night while deposits and trading continued. Chen promised hourly updates and a full incident report with root cause analysis within 24 hours.
Also Read: Google Unveils Gemini 4 Argon, Claims Benchmark Lead Over OpenAI And Anthropic
The Loss Estimate Has Moved
The release puts the financial impact at approximately $388 million. When Chen first confirmed the breach, she gave a figure of about $351.6 million, roughly $36 million lower.
The fund's size has moved too. Chen said at the time that it held more than $464 million. It now stands above $300 million, which is its stated floor rather than its pre-incident level.
Bitget has not explained the revision to the loss figure. The company said its investigation is continuing.
Withdrawals And Reserves
Withdrawals are now resuming in phases, though Bitget has not said when the process will be complete or which products are restored first.
The exchange published its latest Proof of Reserves on Sept. 30. All 19 assets in the snapshot carried reserve ratios above 100%.
What Is Still Open
Bitget has brought in cybersecurity firms Mandiant and SlowMist for the forensic work and says tracing and recovery efforts are ongoing. It has still not disclosed how the attackers reached the wallets, nor published the root cause analysis Chen promised within 24 hours of the breach.
Earlier, Yellow reported that outflows visible to on-chain monitors on the night of the breach came to less than half the figure Bitget later confirmed, a gap the exchange has not addressed.
Read Next: Google Puts A Price On AI Search Content With 100-Publisher Pilot
