Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget will begin restoring customer withdrawals in stages from September 28, four days after it detected and contained a security incident in its wallet infrastructure. The vulnerability behind the breach has been identified and remediated, and the exchange is reopening withdrawals in dated phases while independent security firms review the fix, according to a notice on Bitget’s support center. Trading and deposits have continued uninterrupted throughout the pause.
Four phases for the return of withdrawals
Bitcoin withdrawals reopen first, at 08:00 UTC on September 28, on the Bitcoin network. Ether withdrawals follow at the same time on September 29 across Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Arbitrum, Base and Optimism. Tether’s USDT returns on September 30 across Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Solana and Tron, and all remaining tokens, fiat services and peer-to-peer transfers are scheduled for October 2. Bitget said the staggered rollout lets it restore services “as quickly and safely as possible” while its teams finish security checks across the withdrawal infrastructure. The phased schedule also lets the exchange bring withdrawals back in an orderly way, and Bitget said the same timetable applies consistently across users without preference.
A remediated flaw and outside validators
Bitget said its security and technical teams have been running additional validation and security checks, with independent cybersecurity firm Mandiant and blockchain security company SlowMist supporting the investigation. The exchange described the withdrawal pause as a precaution “not related to the availability of user assets,” said account balances remain unaffected, and said its Protection Fund covers the financial impact of the incident. Bitget added that the incident remains contained and that no further unauthorized transfers are possible. Users do not need to take any action ahead of the rollout, and the exchange said withdrawal availability will appear directly on the Bitget platform as each phase opens.
Recovery after the hot wallet breach
The resumption follows the exchange’s disclosure that it detected unauthorized transfers from some of its hot wallets on September 24 and later confirmed a $351.6 million hot wallet breach. Bitget said its cold wallets were secure and that trading and deposits continued throughout the pause. The episode underscores the security trade-off between internet-connected hot wallets and offline cold storage, which exchanges use to keep the bulk of customer assets away from the network. Bitget has asked users to follow its official channels for updates as the remaining phases come online.
