Circle and Tether quickly freeze $318,000 tied to Bitget crypto hack

A wallet tied to this week’s massive Bitget crypto hack has been cut off from roughly $318,000 in stablecoins after Circle and Tether moved in to freeze the funds — a notably quick response following one of the year’s biggest exchange breaches. The action came hours after attackers drained $351.6 million from the exchange on Thursday, but it only scratches the surface of what disappeared. Most of the stolen money sits in more than 63,000 ETH, an asset no stablecoin issuer has the power to lock down.

Key takeaways

• Circle and Tether froze about $318,000 in USDT and USDC tied to Thursday’s $351.6 million Bitget hack.
• Circle blacklisted the wallet, labeled “Bitget Exploiter 8” on Etherscan, at 05:00 UTC Friday; Tether banned it shortly after.
• More than 63,000 ETH stolen in the breach remains unfrozen, since no issuer can block ether transfers.
• Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said attackers spoofed transaction data to trigger the exchange’s authorization process, ruling out a private key compromise.
• Bitget’s user protection fund, holding over $464 million, is covering the entire loss.

Circle and Tether Freeze Bitget Exploiter Wallet After $351.6 Million Hack

Circle and Tether have blacklisted a wallet connected to the Bitget crypto hack, cutting off roughly $318,000 in stablecoins from the attackers — though the bulk of the stolen money remains completely beyond reach. Onchain data shows Circle blacklisted the address at 05:00 UTC Friday. Etherscan labels the wallet “Bitget Exploiter 8,” and it held about 170.47 ETH alongside 218,023 USDT and 99,990 USDC at the time of the freeze. Blockchain security firm MistTrack confirmed that Tether banned the same wallet soon afterward.

How much was frozen — and why most funds are still out of reach

Once both freezes landed, roughly $318,000 in stablecoins was effectively stuck, unable to move or convert. That’s a small dent compared to the overall haul. MistTrack’s tracker shows other exploiter-linked addresses still sitting on more than 63,000 ETH — funds that stay fully liquid and mobile because ether isn’t a token any single company can pause or seize. This gap illustrates a structural limit of stablecoin freezes: issuers like Circle and Tether can act on their own tokens, but they have no authority over the underlying blockchain assets hackers often prefer to hold.

Bitget CEO Details How the Backend Was Breached

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said the intrusion did not involve stolen private keys but instead exploited weaknesses deep inside the exchange’s own systems. Attackers compromised a backend system within Bitget’s wallet infrastructure, spoofed transaction data, and triggered the platform’s authorization-signing process to push funds out. “Private key compromise has been ruled out,” Chen said.

User protection fund covers the shortfall

Whatever gets recovered from the frozen wallet or traced through cooperating exchanges, Bitget says customers won’t be left short. Chen confirmed that Bitget’s user protection fund, which holds over $464 million, will cover the loss in full, and that customer balances remain accurate despite the breach.

Circle’s Faster Response Compared to the April Drift Hack

What stands out about this episode is the speed of Circle’s intervention. Just months earlier, Circle faced sharp criticism over its handling of the April Drift hack, a $285 million breach in which the attacker moved roughly $232 million in stolen USDC from Solana to Ethereum — using Circle’s own cross-chain transfer protocol to do it. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT argued at the time that Circle could have blacklisted wallets and frozen funds much faster than it did.

This time, Circle blacklisted the exploiter wallet within roughly a day of the breach becoming public. Circle has maintained that it only freezes assets when legally required to, a policy that shaped both responses even as the timelines diverged sharply. The contrast raises a broader question for the industry: as stablecoins become a bigger share of what hackers steal, how issuers balance legal obligations against the pressure to act quickly may end up mattering as much as the security of the exchanges themselves.

For now, the bigger prize from the Bitget crypto hack — those 63,000-plus ETH — remains fully mobile, a reminder that stablecoin freezes, however fast, only ever cover part of the picture when attackers know to convert their loot into assets no single company controls.

FAQ

How much did Circle and Tether freeze from the hacker’s wallet?

Circle and Tether froze about $318,000 in stablecoins (USDT and USDC) from the hacker’s wallet.

Why can’t all stolen funds be frozen after the Bitget hack?

Most of the stolen funds are in over 63,000 ETH, which no issuer can freeze.

What method did the hackers use to steal funds from Bitget?

Attackers compromised a backend system to spoof transaction data and trigger authorization, but did not compromise private keys.

Does Bitget cover users’ losses from this hack?

Yes, Bitget’s user protection fund, which holds over $464 million, covers the loss.

Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.