Bitget withdrawals are expected to be restored in phases due to the temporary halt of the service after an incident occurred on the platform involving approximately $387.5 million worth of cryptocurrency.
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The restoration of Bitcoin withdrawals will begin on September 28; Ethereum and USDT withdrawals will follow afterward, and XRP and other cryptocurrencies’ withdrawals will start on October 2.
It has been reported that Bitget now knows about the problem, and there will not be any other problems as far as security breaches in their system are concerned.
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Bitget Withdrawals Will Resume in Phases
Bitget will resume Bitget withdrawals in phases and not by opening up all the assets simultaneously. Phase 1 shall start on September 28 at 08:00 UTC, during which Bitcoin withdrawals will be possible via the native Bitcoin blockchain network.
Phase 2 will start on September 29, during which Ethereum withdrawals will be possible through Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism networks. USDT withdrawal is scheduled for September 30 through Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Solana, and TRON networks.
In the phased restart, Bitget will get the chance to observe its systems once the services become active. The exchange noted that some security tests will be conducted to make sure that the platform is still safe.
Why Bitget Suspended Withdrawals
Bitget has decided to suspend Bitget withdrawals due to unauthorized withdrawals from certain wallets on September 24. At first, Bitget stated that there were about $351.6 million worth of cryptocurrency assets affected by this attack.
Following a further examination of the blockchain, Bitget raised its estimate to about $387.5 million, adding other assets related to Zcash and TRON to its previous estimate.
CEO of Bitget, Gracy Chen, explained that it was just a safety measure that didn’t in any way affect the balance of the user accounts. The company further noted that its cold wallets were safe during the attack.
While investigations into the issue were still ongoing, depositing and other exchange functions continued without any interruptions. According to the company, the move was made as another security measure to examine the wallet structure.
The company noted that the vulnerability that led to the hack had already been pinpointed and sorted out. They are currently working with external security firms and law enforcement departments on tracking the stolen assets.
Bitget Launches 10% Recovery Bounty
In addition to the relaunch of Bitget Withdrawals, the cryptocurrency exchange has introduced the Asset Recovery Bounty Program, which will reward efforts made to freeze and retrieve the stolen funds.
The total amount of rewards in this program equals 10%, with 5% reward being provided for the qualified support that will lead to the freezing of stolen assets, and an additional 5% reward for support leading to their retrieval.
According to Bitget, the program was created to motivate blockchain security experts, cryptocurrency exchanges, and asset issuers to track down stolen assets.
The two companies have already frozen a portion of the funds associated with the theft. Bitget reports that Circle has frozen 99,990 USDC while Tether has frozen 218,023 USDT. The two frozen coins are worth approximately $318,000.
However, there is a lot more cryptocurrency involved that is being investigated. Using blockchain technology, it was found that the attacker’s wallets have over 63,000 ETH, which are valued at approximately $183 million.
Furthermore, over 102 million XRP coins with an approximate value of $157.48 million are still associated with the stolen funds. In contrast to USDT and USDC, neither ETH nor XRP can be directly frozen by stablecoin issuers. Therefore, the retrieval of such assets depends on blockchain tracking and exchanges’ collaboration.
Regarding Bitget withdrawals, they will be gradually restored from September 28 onwards, starting with Bitcoin. The other withdrawal services are to be restored gradually up until October 2.
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