Major exchange reopens BTC withdrawals after halt

TLDR

Bitget has resumed Bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals after halting them due to a major security breach, and users immediately moved a large amount of BTC off the exchange.

1. Bitget paused withdrawals following a reported $388 million hot-wallet exploit and has now reopened BTC withdrawals first as part of a phased restart.
2. The first hour saw about 3,326 BTC withdrawn, signaling strong user desire to reduce exchange exposure despite Bitget saying user balances stayed intact.
3. The key variables now are how smoothly other assets reopen, what the forensic investigation concludes, and whether trust stabilizes or further issues emerge.

Deep Dive

1. What Changed On The Exchange

Bitget, a large centralized exchange, halted withdrawals after an attacker drained roughly $388 million from its hot wallets. Investigators linked the breach to a vulnerability in a third-party security product that let attackers forge withdrawal commands rather than steal private keys, according to a SlowMist report summarized by Bitcoin.com.

Bitget has now restarted withdrawals in stages, beginning with Bitcoin. Reports show BTC withdrawals were reopened first, with ETH and USDT scheduled shortly after, and other tokens and fiat/P2P withdrawals planned to follow in early October in a phased rollout. Crypto.news notes that BTC withdrawals came back online on September 28, with additional networks added over the following days.

2. Immediate Impact And Outflows

Within the first hour of reopening BTC withdrawals, Bitget saw an outflow of about 3,326 BTC, according to CryptoQuant data cited by CryptoBriefing and TokenPost. That is a meaningful amount for a single venue and underlines how quickly users moved to external wallets or other platforms once withdrawals resumed.

Bitget states that customer balances were not impaired, trading and deposits remained active during the halt, and that its User Protection Fund, reportedly over $300 million and backed by thousands of BTC, is intended to absorb the loss while maintaining solvency. A proof-of-reserves snapshot cited by crypto.news showed an overall reserve ratio above 100% across major assets, suggesting user liabilities remain fully backed on paper.

3. What To Watch Next

Several moving parts now matter for crypto users:

1. Execution of the phased reopening. If ETH, USDT, altcoins and fiat/P2P withdrawals restart on the published timetable, it supports the view that operational risk is contained. Delays or new limits would be a warning sign.
2. Forensic and regulatory outcomes. Bitget has brought in firms such as SlowMist and Mandiant, and its CEO has said she is not optimistic about fully recovering funds, while hinting at possible North Korea-linked actors. Clearer public postmortems and any regulator comment will shape how other venues respond.
3. User behavior and flows. Persistent net outflows from Bitget, or rising on-chain balances in self-custody, would indicate a longer-lasting shift in counterparty risk tolerance even if the exchange remains solvent.

Conclusion

A major exchange-level hack that forced Bitget to halt withdrawals has now progressed into a controlled reopening, starting with BTC and followed by other assets. The swift 3,326 BTC outflow shows users are quick to de-risk from a venue after a security shock, even when balances are reportedly made whole. Going forward, the balance between Bitgets protection fund, its technical fixes, and user trust will determine whether this episode remains a contained venue issue or feeds into a broader reassessment of exchange counterparty risk.