Circle and Tether Step in to Freeze Hacker Wallet After Massive Bitget Crypto Heist
The issuers acted after researchers said the attacker converted stolen USDC into ETH, leaving most of the estimated $351.6 million loss untouched.
- On Friday, Circle and Tether froze stablecoins in a wallet linked to Thursday's $351.6 million Bitget hack. The exchange detected unauthorized transfers from hot wallets on September 24.
- Bitget CEO Gracy Chen confirmed attackers compromised the exchange's backend infrastructure and spoofed transaction data to bypass authorization. She ruled out a private key leak.
- Security researcher Taylor Monahan and critics like ZachXBT argued Circle should have moved faster to blacklist addresses. Circle maintains its policy requires legal process before freezing funds.
- Bitget CEO Gracy Chen stated the exchange's user protection fund, worth over $464 million, covers the full loss. Engineers are working on repairs and restoring withdrawal services.
- Once attackers swap USDC for ETH, stablecoin issuers cannot freeze the converted funds, highlighting blacklisting limitations. Security firm MistTrack reported other exploiter addresses still hold more than 63,000 ETH beyond issuer control.
20 Articles
20 Articles
Why Circle and Tether Froze Only 0.08% of Assets in Bitget Hack
The Bitget hack cost the exchange $387.5 million, yet stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether froze only about $318,000 of it. You'll see why hackers outran the freeze, why Circle acted faster than in April, and why the same freeze button can reach your wallet too.
Bitget hacker swaps USDC for ETH as Circle faces renewed freeze questions
The Bitget hacker has converted stolen USDC into ETH after a breach that the exchange valued at about $351.6 million, renewing questions about when Circle freezes funds linked to an attack. Security researcher Taylor Monahan flagged the attacker’s activity on…
Why Circle and Tether Froze Only 0.08% of Assets in Bitget Hack | #hacking | #cybersecurity | #infosec | #comptia | #pentest | #hacker - National Cyber Security Consulting
Stablecoin giants Circle and Tether stepped in to freeze a wallet tied to the Bitget hack, and the total they caught was about $318,000 out of $387.5 million. Bitget is one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, and this is the biggest crypto theft of 2026 so far, so how the industry responds sets the […] Thank you for subscribing to our RSS feed!
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