Bitget $387 million hack traced to North Korean actors
Chainalysis has linked the September 24 theft of $387 million from cryptocurrency exchange Bitget to North Korean hackers. The attackers moved stolen XRP through a cross‑chain liquidity protocol and swapped it for Bitcoin, avoiding exchanges. The breach raises the total value of crypto stolen by DPRK‑linked groups in 2026 to over $1 billion. Bitget’s CEO had earlier cited IP‑address evidence pointing to North Korea.
Why it matters
The attribution highlights the growing sophistication of state‑linked crypto theft, which may increase regulatory scrutiny and security costs for exchanges. Investors holding XRP or Bitcoin could see heightened volatility as the market reacts to the large loss and the cross‑chain laundering method.
Key facts
- 1The Bitget hack resulted in a loss of $387 million. finance.yahoo.com
- 2Chainalysis attributes the theft to North Korean actors, bringing 2026 DPRK‑linked crypto thefts above $1 billion. finance.yahoo.com
- 3Hackers converted stolen XRP into Bitcoin using a cross‑chain swap and avoided exchanges. finance.yahoo.com
- 4The attack is the largest crypto hack of 2026, increasing September losses by 462%. finance.yahoo.com
- 5Outflows after the exploit were 49.7% to Ethereum, 40.8% to the XRP Ledger, 7.6% to Zcash, and 1.8% to Tron. finance.yahoo.com
- 6Bitget’s CEO Gracy Chen previously pointed to IP addresses matching a DPRK‑linked VPN group. finance.yahoo.com
Summary written by AlphAI from 2 of 2 sources. Not investment advice. Figures are as stated by the linked sources.