Bitget
Cryptocurrency exchange originally founded in Singapore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bitget is a cryptocurrency exchange that was originally founded in Singapore in 2018.
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| |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Cryptocurrency |
| Founded | 2018 in Singapore |
| Headquarters | |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Gracy Chen (CEO)[1] |
| Products | Cryptocurrency exchange, cryptocurrencies |
| Subsidiaries | Bitget Wallet |
| Website | bitget |
In September 2026, the exchange was hacked resulting in the loss of $387.5 million in assets.
History
Bitget was founded in Singapore in 2018.[2][3] It initially specialized in cryptocurrency derivatives and copy trading.[2]
In December 2022, Bitget registered in the Seychelles, having previously been based in Singapore.[4]
In April 2023, Bitget raised US$10 million from venture capital firm, Dragonfly.[4] Also, in April 2023, Bitget began testing the chatbot ChatGPT to answer customer inquiries, but ended the test after two weeks, saying that the tool had given users false information.[5] In 2024, amid the growing popularity of Telegram-based games such as Hamster Kombat, Bitget and Foresight Ventures invested US$30 million in the TON ecosystem.[6]
In 2024, Bitget appointed Gracy Chen as its chief executive.[7] Later this year, Bitget obtained a bitcoin service provider license from the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador.[8]
In June 2026, it applied to Austria's Financial Market Authority for a license under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation.[9][10]
2026 hack
On September 24, 2026, attackers stole cryptocurrency from Bitget's exchange wallet infrastructure. The losses were estimated at US$387.5 million after additional transfers were identified, making it the largest cryptocurrency theft reported in 2026 at the time.[11][12]
The attackers compromised a backend system within Bitget's wallet infrastructure and manipulated transaction data so that unauthorized withdrawals passed through the exchange's authorization process. Private keys and cold wallets were not compromised and that the incident was limited to part of its hot wallet infrastructure.[13][14] Bitget engaged cybersecurity firms Mandiant to assist with the investigation.[15] Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic assessed the attack as highly likely to be linked to North Korean threat actors, citing overlaps between addresses used to launder the stolen assets and infrastructure associated with previous North Korea-linked attacks, including the 2025 Bybit hack.[16]
Bitget said that the financial impact of the breach would be covered by its User Protection Fund, which was launched in 2022 and expanded to US$300 million following the collapse of FTX; it was valued at more than US$464 million at the time of the attack.[17][18]
Products
Bitget Wallet
Bitget Wallet, formerly known as BitKeep, is a cryptocurrency wallet of Bitget. In October 2022, BitKeep's swap feature was exploited, resulting in losses of about US$1 million. Following a separate December 2022 hack linked to a counterfeit version of its app, BitKeep promised to reimburse affected users in USDT, paying back in split schedule. Blockchain security firm PeckShield estimated total losses from the December incident at about US$8 million.[19][20] In March 2023, Bitget acquired BitKeep, a non-custodial wallet, and renamed it as Bitget Wallet following a $30 million investment.[21]
Bitget Token
Bitget Token (BGB) is a utility token associated with the Bitget ecosystem. In December 2024, Bitget merged the Bitget Wallet Token (BWB) into BGB, making BGB the common token of the exchange and wallet ecosystems.[22]
In September 2025, Bitget transferred 440 million BGB to the Morph Foundation as part of an agreement under which BGB became the native gas and governance token of the Morph blockchain; half of the transferred tokens were immediately burned.[23]
Reality and rToken
In May 2026, Bitget launched Reality, a platform for tokenizing real-world assets. Its rTokens provide on-chain exposure to selected U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds, with each token backed by shares held through a U.S. broker-dealer.[24]
Sponsorships
In September 2021, it became the first sleeve sponsor of the Italian football club Juventus.[25][26][27] The partnership ended after the 2022-23 season.[28]
In 2022, Bitget entered into a sponsorship deal with Lionel Messi after which he became a global brand ambassador of Bitget.[29][30] Bitget's partnership with Messi had ended by December 2025.[31]
In 2024, LaLiga announced a multi-year regional agreement with Bitget.[32] Following the 2025 Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po, Bitget was named by Po Leung Kuk as having donated HK$3.5 million to its relief efforts.[33]
Legal status
The platform has faced regulatory warnings or restrictions in several jurisdictions, including Australia, Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.[34][35][36][37]
France
Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) placed Bitget on its blacklist in November 2023 for non-compliance with French regulations, and in April 2024 reminded the public that Bitget was not authorized to provide digital asset services in France.[38][10] Bitget withdrew its services from France in March 2026, saying it could not comply with French regulatory requirements,[39] and on July 9, 2026, the AMF removed bitget.com from its crypto asset blacklist.[38]
Hong Kong
In 2023, BitgetX withdrew from Hong Kong after deciding not to seek a local virtual-asset trading licence.[40][41] BGX, which shared a chief executive with BitgetX but denied being affiliated with Bitget, subsequently acquired a substantial stake in the parent company of the licensed exchange OSL.[42]
Singapore
In 2021, Singapore's financial regulator suspended Bitget's operations in the country over allegations of misleading promotion of the token named after the BTS fanbase.[43] BTS's management company Hybe threatened legal action over its promotion.[44] Bitget subsequently announced that it would delist ''ARMY'', while allowing withdrawals for a limited period.[45][46]
Turkey
Bitget entered the Turkish market through its local subsidiary Bitget Teknoloji in 2023. In 2024, the subsidiary entered liquidation and Bitget withdrew its local operations; its shares were subsequently acquired by METX Dijital, the owner of the CoinTR exchange.[47][48]
United Kingdom
In 2024, Bitget ceased serving users in the United Kingdom (UK) in response to the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) ban on retail cryptocurrency derivatives.[49] Later this year, the exchange relaunched its UK website after obtaining approval for its financial promotions from Archax.[50]
