$388M hack: Bitget CEO Gracy Chen discusses user trust, AI and the future of trading

• $388 million was lost in the Bitget hack in September. The breach raised pressing questions over the safety of user funds held on centralised exchanges.
• For BitGet CEO Gracy Chen, technology cuts both ways: it strengthens security systems and supports product development, but AI also broadens the threat landscape.
• Growth in Real World Asset tokenisation points to a future of borderless trading, bringing crypto and traditional finance together.

Approximately $8.65 billion to $8.98 billion has been lost to cryptocurrency security breaches in 2026 alone, according to CertiK. Among those losses were $388 million from the Bitget exchange hack in September and roughly $6.3 billion from the Binance exploit last week.

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology develops, the Bitget breach has sharpened concerns about how securely centralised cryptocurrency exchanges (CEXs) protect user funds.

Against that backdrop, Bitget distinguished itself through its handling of the crisis. Speaking exclusively to FXStreet, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen detailed the incident and the lessons her team took from it. She also discussed strengthening security, restoring trust, AI and the changing trading landscape.

Bitget hack: security lessons from the breach

Small unauthorised transfers marked the start of the Bitget hack, followed by larger withdrawals across multiple chains. Within minutes, the exchange’s security systems identified unusual activity and halted withdrawals. An internal investigation found that attackers had exploited a weakness in a third-party security product, triggering the exchange’s transaction authorisation process. Private keys and cold wallets remained uncompromised.

Explaining the company’s response to FXStreet, Chen said: “We did our best, and within a few hours we made the decision to bear the loss as a company rather than have any of our users bear it,”

Following the breach, Bitget revised access to sensitive systems and introduced multiple layers of approval for critical operations. It also strengthened monitoring and extensively overhauled its assessment and integration of third-party products. External products now face tighter limits on access within the exchange’s network.

Transparency and communication remained priorities as the Bitget team worked around the clock to contain the incident and resume operations. Withdrawals were reinstated within three days. Chen noted that panic initially drove Bitcoin (BTC) outflows, but sentiment turned once Ethereum (ETH) withdrawals restarted, with inflows subsequently exceeding outflows.

Asked about the possibility of a further breach at Bitget, Chen stressed the need to keep improving security as technology develops.

Chen acknowledged the limits of any assurance: “I want people to know that I cannot promise, and I don’t think any trading platform can promise that there will be no hacks,” she said. She added: “But what we can promise is that if anything like this happens, we will communicate transparently, and we will put the interests of our users first.”

Technology strengthens defences and expands threats

Better system monitoring, AI-driven detection and multi-layer approval for critical operations illustrate technology’s protective role, Chen said. These developments help safeguard user funds. Yet the same technology can enable increasingly sophisticated attacks, including those involving AI.

Research, signal detection, execution, risk monitoring and marketing programmes are among the Bitget operations that now use AI. Chen nevertheless warned against relying too heavily on it, noting that “AI at least today, is here to make good strategies work better, rather than just giving someone with no trading background a 100% guaranteed strategy.”

RWA tokenisation shapes trading’s future

Beyond the security incident, Chen outlined Bitget’s longer-term plans, beginning with its newly launched Alliance profit-sharing programme. Under the programme, the exchange shares about 30% of trading profits with users, part of its work to restore trust following the breach.

A universal exchange is Bitget’s long-term ambition: one platform combining forex, equities and real-world assets (RWAs), with stablecoins as the base currency. Regulatory hurdles vary across jurisdictions, Chen acknowledged. Even so, she said users increasingly want access to traditional assets through cryptocurrency exchange platforms.

On the business model, Chen added: “You don’t need to be the biggest. As long as you have a good number of users who use your platform daily, it’s a profitable and sustainable business. You don’t have to outperform everyone to stay in the competition,”

Progress in RWA tokenisation does not mean all the foundations for its next phase are in place, Chen argued. Liquidity remains a challenge, particularly at weekends. Crypto exchanges also have substantial work ahead before investors in tokenised assets receive the same rights as investors in traditional markets.

Describing efforts to address those rights, Chen explained: “This is something the industry is moving towards in order to resolve it, or to provide voting rights, or to allow our users to attend Annual General Meetings (AGMs), or the like,”

With the divide between crypto and traditional finance becoming less distinct, the CEO sees a future that could differ from today’s landscape. Investors are likely to turn their attention to platforms offering fair value, weekend access and low fees, alongside solutions to the liquidity challenge.

Chen’s closing view was: “I think the boundaries won’t really be clear in the future,”