Stablecoin issuers freeze only fraction of Bitget hack funds
Circle and Tether froze about $318,000 in stablecoins from an address linked to the Bitget exploit, a small fraction of the $387.5 million stolen. The address held 218,023 USDT and 99,990 USDC, while other hacker wallets still contain more than 63,000 ETH that issuers cannot freeze. The frozen amount represents less than 0.1% of the total haul.
Circle’s blacklist entry covered a wallet labeled “Bitget Exploiter 8,” which held 170.47 ETH alongside 218,023 USDT and 99,990 USDC. Tether followed by banning the same address, according to MistTrack. The stablecoin freeze totals roughly $318,000, while other attacker wallets still hold over 63,000 ETH, about $170 million, which no issuer can block.
The response came roughly ten hours after the hack was detected. In April’s Drift incident, $285 million was lost and $232 million moved from Solana to Ethereum through Circle’s CCTP, drawing criticism over slow blacklisting. Tether has frozen over $514 million in a month, BlockSec data shows.
The limited freeze may reinforce perceptions that stablecoin issuers can intervene only in narrow cases, potentially affecting trust among exchange users and traders who rely on USDT and USDC. It could also intensify scrutiny of how quickly issuers act and whether legal clarity exists for blocking funds. For victims, recovery prospects may remain slim, while broader crypto users may weigh custody and asset-choice risks.