A wallet tied to the Bitget hacker converted about $6.3 million in Ethereum into Bitcoin through THORChain after the exchange asked the network to freeze addresses linked to its Sept. 24 breach. THORChain refused, saying it can halt the whole network but cannot block a single wallet. Bitget has since raised its breach estimate to $387.5 million and started reopening Bitcoin withdrawals.
A wallet linked to the Bitget hacker has swapped about $6.3 million in ETH for Bitcoin through THORChain, after the network rejected the exchange's request to block addresses tied to the attack. Blockchain tracker Lookonchain had identified the wallet as part of the attacker's activity.
Wallet completes 27 swaps into Bitcoin
The wallet completed 27 swaps, converting about 2,390 ETH into 75.2 BTC, all routed to a single receiving address. Most orders, submitted between roughly 03:55 and 06:23 UTC on Monday, involved about 100 ETH apiece; CoinDesk valued each batch at approximately $265,000 at the prices used in its review. CoinDesk's review also found 400 ETH across four transactions still pending. THORChain lets users swap assets across blockchains without a centralized exchange, so both the ETH and BTC sides of the transfer stayed visible on public ledgers.
THORChain rejects the freeze request
Bitget CEO Gracy Chen had asked THORChain over the weekend to refuse service to the addresses the exchange had identified. According to crypto.news: "Decentralization is a design principle, not a shield for facilitating known stolen funds." THORChain rejected the request, saying its emergency controls can halt the entire network but cannot perform a selective freeze of one address. The network last used those controls after a May attack that took about $10.7 million from a THORChain vault; that attacker's addresses were not individually blacklisted either.
Bitget raises its estimate and reopens withdrawals
Bitget has raised its breach estimate to about $387.5 million, up from an initial $351.6 million, after including Zcash and TRON assets it had omitted from the first count; the exchange said the increase reflects a fuller review rather than new theft. Circle has frozen 99,990 USDC tied to the attack, and Tether has frozen 218,023 USDT. Bitget opened Bitcoin-network BTC withdrawals at 08:00 UTC on Sept. 28, the first stage of a phased plan that adds ETH on Sept. 29 and USDT on Sept. 30. Hours earlier, the exchange's public feed showed BTC and ETH futures trades resuming at 04:20 UTC, before the scheduled 08:00 UTC restart; a service-opening notice does not by itself confirm a completed customer withdrawal.
Sources: crypto.news, CryptoSlate
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