On September 24, Bitget reported $351.6 million in unauthorized transfers and temporarily suspended withdrawals. After the incident, BTC withdrawals from Bitget nearly stopped. Net Bitcoin outflows continued on other exchanges, having begun before the incident.
TL;DR
After the hack, BTC withdrawals from Bitget nearly stopped, but the direction of flows across all exchanges did not change. We examine Bitcoin's reaction to the exchange hack.
Bitcoin: Exchange Outflow (Total) - Bitget
From September 18 through 18:00 UTC on September 24, an average of 15 BTC per hour was withdrawn from Bitget. There was not a single hour with zero withdrawals during that period. According to the exchange, its systems detected unauthorized transfers at 18:31 UTC. Starting at 19:00 UTC, BTC withdrawals fell to almost zero: just 0.006 BTC left over the next four hours. This coincides with Bitget's announced suspension of withdrawals. (Bitget Support Center)
Bitcoin: Exchange Netflow (Total) - All Exchanges
In the 12 hours after the incident was detected, net outflows from all exchanges totaled 3,100 BTC. The outflows had begun earlier: since September 22, cumulative netflow has been negative 31,400 BTC, with 12,500 BTC leaving in a single hour on September 22. The direction of flows did not change after Bitget's announcement, which suggests Bitcoin did not react to the incident.
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FAQ
Does the withdrawal suspension mean Bitget clients have lost their funds? Bitget says its cold wallets were unaffected and that its User Protection Fund, which holds more than $464 million, covers the estimated loss.
Do exchange outflows mean investors are buying Bitcoin? When investors withdraw BTC from exchanges, those withdrawals are commonly interpreted as purchases.
Conclusions
In the first 12 hours after the hack was detected, aggregate BTC netflow remained negative. The data show no shift to net inflows across exchanges. The next things to watch are the resumption of withdrawals from Bitget and the direction of exchange-wide flows afterward.
Live Charts
Explore the metrics behind this brief with live, auto-updating charts:
Exchange Netflow - Net BTC moving to and from exchanges across positive and negative flow regimes.
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