Bitget Hacker Swaps Ethereum For Bitcoin As THORChain Rejects Plea To Freeze Funds

A wallet, associated with the Bitget hacker, has transferred approximately $6.3 million worth of ETH to BTC using THORChain.The wallet belonging to the Bitget hacker has transferred approximately $6.3 million worth of ETH to BTC through THORChain. The transaction was made amid Bitget’s CEO Gracy Chen requesting the decentralized network to cut off addresses that are connected to Sept. 24 security breach.

Ad

Ad

Bitget Hacker Swaps 2,390 ETH Into Bitcoin

According to blockchain transactions data, the wallet made 27 swaps on Monday. In total, some 2,390 ETH were traded for around 75.2 BTC via THORChain, which is a decentralized crypto exchange. Only a single receiving address received the Bitcoin.

At the time of the review there were an additional 400 ETH waiting in a total of four transactions.

This was an activity that occurred from approximately 03:55 to 06:23 UTC. The majority of orders were for approximately 100 ETH. The cost of each batch, at current prices, was approximately $265,000.

Blockchain tracking platform Lookonchain previously spotted the wallet as part of the attacker’s operations.

With THORChain, users can transfer assets between blockchains without having to go through a centralized crypto exchange. With that set up, it will be more difficult to halt a transaction if the stolen funds are introduced into the system.

The swaps are still on-chain, though. This enables blockchain researchers and security teams to trace the funds.

For context, on September 24, Bitget experienced a massive breach with nearly $352 million stolen. The exchange has stated that the vulnerability has been discovered and patched. It has not revealed specifics of the breach of its security measures by the attacker.

Bitget has also shared addresses related to the attacker and declared a 5% bounty for any good faith attempts to freeze or recover the stolen funds.

Ad

Ad

THORChain Defends Its Decentralized Model

Over the weekend, THORChain was called upon publicly by Chen as funds from the wallet kept moving on the chain.

“Our attacker addresses are publicly listed and actively tracked. We are formally asking THORChain to refuse service to these addresses,” she wrote on X. Bitget CEO Chen added, “Decentralization is a design principle, not a shield for facilitating known stolen funds.”

The request for a targeted freeze was denied by THORChain. The network’s emergency controls are not intended to block specific wallets, but rather the protocol itself, it said.

“A THORChain network halt is an emergency security mechanism designed to protect the protocol,” the team wrote. They further noted, “A halt is not a selective freeze of specific funds or an individual swap.”

According to THORChain, its controls have the ability to suspend swaps across the network or to limit activity on a specific blockchain. This would also impact on legitimate users.

It was previously suspended after it suffered an exploit from its own vaults that took approximately $10.7 million of its own money. Trading restarted on June 22, when the developer fixed the vulnerability.

Meanwhile, the trading limits imposed on the Bitget wallet also affected the hacker’s wallet. There were 100 ETH orders that were not completely filled due to minimum price requirements. Approximately 114 ETH went back to the wallet from which they were sent.