Bitget CEO Says Recovery of $388 Million Hack Funds Remains Uncertain

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen discusses the uncertain recovery of $388 million stolen in the exchange’s security breach

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said she is “NOT very optimistic” about recovering the funds stolen in the cryptocurrency exchange’s $388 million security breach, citing the difficulty of freezing and retrieving assets once they have been moved across blockchain networks.

Coin Bureau highlighted Chen’s comments in a post on X, pointing to the 2025 Bybit hack as a reference for the challenges involved in recovering stolen cryptocurrency. Chen said only about 3.5% of the funds stolen in that incident had been frozen roughly a year later, emphasizing that freezing assets does not necessarily mean they have been recovered.

“That’s only the freezing. It’s not about recovery yet,” Chen said.

Bitget Protection Fund Covers Customer Losses

Bitget has said its $464 million protection fund is sufficient to cover every user affected by the breach. The exchange previously said the incident affected approximately $351.6 million in assets, while later reporting put the total theft at about $387.5 million after additional transfers were identified.

The exchange has maintained that customer balances remain unaffected. CoinDesk reported that Bitget said its protection fund would cover the losses while withdrawals were scheduled to resume in stages following the security review.

Bitget’s response separates the recovery of stolen assets from its responsibility toward customers. Even if some or all of the stolen cryptocurrency cannot ultimately be recovered, the company has said its protection fund will cover the affected losses.

Stolen Assets Continue Moving Across Networks

The recovery challenge has been compounded by the movement of assets through different blockchain networks and services.

CoinDesk reported that the attacker moved about $83 million in stolen XRP from several holding wallets, while other stolen XRP remained in addresses that cannot be frozen under the XRP Ledger’s existing rules.

The attacker also moved cryptocurrency through cross-chain services. CoinDesk reported that a wallet linked to the Bitget breach exchanged about 2,390 ETH, worth roughly $6.3 million at the time, for 75.2 BTC through THORChain. Bitget had asked THORChain to block publicly identified attacker addresses, but the protocol rejected the request.

Another cross-chain service, NEAR Intents, said its safeguards blocked about $503,000 linked to the breach, while approximately $166,000 passed through the service. The larger amount cited in its report represented attempted transfers rather than funds ultimately recovered.

Withdrawals Resume After Security Review

Bitget kept trading and deposits available during the incident while temporarily restricting withdrawals as it reviewed its security systems. Reuters reported that the withdrawal suspension was described by the exchange as a security measure rather than a liquidity issue.

The resumption of withdrawals marks another stage of the exchange’s response, but Chen’s comments indicate that recovering the stolen assets remains markets a separate and substantially more difficult process.

For now, Bitget’s protection fund remains the stated mechanism for covering customer losses, while efforts to track, freeze and recover the stolen cryptocurrency continue.

Writer: Victoria Hale
Technology & Blockchain Writer

Victoria Hale writes about blockchain technology, digital infrastructure, and the intersection of emerging technologies with finance. Her articles explore how new protocols and systems are shaping the evolving digital economy.

She prioritises clarity and accuracy when explaining technical developments to a general audience.