Lazarus Group is once again in the hot seat after Bitget CEO accused the group of stealing more than 350 million dollars in crypto funds from the exchange. Bitget just registered the largest hack of the year after more than 350 million dollars in crypto funds left its hot and warm wallets under circumstances that "no one was expecting."
The platform suffered heavy losses, and even after promising to cover all of them and assuring users that no user funds are in danger, the centralized exchange had to close withdrawals with no clear timeline for reopening. According to Chen, "that could take a day, a week or more time to resume."
I can't blame Bitget's management for closing withdrawals, as they are trying to mitigate possible losses that could still happen. But users aren't guilty of the hack either. So no one should be punished for what happened, and the platform should activate its emergency button as soon as possible to solve this.
Many accounts on X are only reporting that $177,000,000 has been verified online as being connected to the hack, but official accounts mention more than 350 million dollars.
I have seen many crypto exchanges go bankrupt after an incident like this and never recover from the hit. Many start with a lot of hope to keep their customers calm, but the reality is much deeper than the incident itself. The platform should make a total inventory of what it has available to cover customer losses. They should back up all the stolen funds and do that quickly and with a properly structured plan.
That is a huge sum that was stolen, and it won't be easy to cover. They might have the money, but not all of it may be available to close the gap.
I don't know if Lazarus Group is guilty here, but whoever is responsible has outsmarted the security research team at Bitget and transformed 2026 into a nightmare for them.
Meanwhile, the Bitget team assures users that their wallets are safe and that there is nothing to worry about, as users can still move their money normally. But who can do that knowing that the product is linked to an exchange that was hacked and lost more than $350M worth of crypto assets?
The kingdom of hackers is dangerous, and these guys are becoming bolder than ever. Right now, many other exchanges are asking themselves, could the next incident happen to us? Who knows? These criminals are smart, highly motivated, and have the knowledge and tools to do what they want.
Let's just hope Bitget won't go bankrupt, as many people would face enormous problems if that happened. Stay safe online.