Bitget attacker tested risk controls with small transfers before $388 million theft, CEO says

What happened

Bitget's chief executive, Gracy Chen, said an attacker made two small test transfers thirty minutes before stealing $388 million from the exchange.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

Testing transfers first suggests the attacker checked whether small withdrawals would pass unnoticed, so exchanges may need to flag unusual test transactions before a much larger theft follows.

Analyst inference

A $388 million theft is large enough to raise concerns about exchange security and could push traders to move coins to safer venues or self-custody wallets they control directly.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Bitget has not said whether customer funds were affected, so watch for any company statement on losses and whether withdrawals continue normally. Confirmed
2. Exchanges could add checks that pause or review small repeated transfers arriving shortly before large withdrawals, which means automated rules flagging unusual patterns. Proposed
3. If Bitget covers the loss from its own reserves, which means cash set aside for emergencies, customer balances may stay intact and selling pressure could remain limited. Analyst inference

Evidence

• theblock.co