GoPlus Challenges THORChain’s Decentralization Claims Over DPRK-Linked Fund Flows GoPlus Security argued that THORChain should not compare itself directly with Bitcoin or Ethereum when defending its inability to block illicit flows. It said THORChain outbounds rely on threshold signatures from a relatively small active validator set, while the protocol already includes pause, per-chain signing halt and governance mechanisms. GoPlus pointed to prior intervention during THORChain’s own exploit and argued that FBI- or OFAC-attributed DPRK-linked funds could be blocked under the protocol’s existing emergency framework.

AMLBot Traces About 4 BTC From Bitget Hack Into Wasabi CoinJoin Crypto compliance and blockchain analytics platform AMLBot said some funds linked to the Bitget theft appear to have entered Wasabi CoinJoin. Its tracing linked roughly 4 BTC in one CoinJoin round back to a Bitget TRON wallet. The funds were converted from TRX to USDT, bridged to Ethereum via USDT0, swapped into about 145 ETH, then routed through THORChain into roughly 4.59 BTC before being split and sent into CoinJoin. AMLBot said it has blacklisted the related addresses and is monitoring the attacker’s BTC for further CoinJoin activity.

GoPlus: Bitget’s $387.5M Hack Exploited the Transaction-Signing Trust Chain, Not Private Keys GoPlus Security said its review of Bitget’s $387.5 million security incident found that the attack did not involve a private-key leak, but rather a compromise of the transaction-signing trust chain. Attackers breached a critical wallet backend system, forged transaction data, and caused Bitget’s authorized signing flow to generate valid signatures for transfers the exchange did not intend to make. GoPlus said the fund-drain window lasted about 2 hours and 25 minutes, with the largest wave moving roughly $185 million in about one minute. It has blacklisted attacker-linked addresses and shared them with ecosystem partners. GoPlus said the incident shows structural similarities to the 2025 Bybit hack, though Bitget has not yet published a full technical report and the initial intrusion method remains unconfirmed.

Bitget CEO: We're Not Going Anywhere, IPO in About Three Years During an emergency livestream on September 24, roughly three and a half hours after Bitget detected unauthorized transfers involving about $350 million, CEO Gracy Chen @GracyBitget responded to claims that the incident was self-inflicted or an inside job. Chen said staging such a hack would make no sense for a company focused on long-term growth. She said Bitget plans to pursue an IPO within the next few years — ideally in about three years — and that a major security incident would only hurt that goal. While the exact cause of the breach remains under investigation, Chen said the evidence at the time looked more consistent with the Lazarus Group.

Bitget: Withdrawals Set to Resume in Phases Starting September 28, Vulnerability Fixed Bitget said the vulnerability involved in its September 24 security incident has been identified and fixed, with withdrawals set to resume in phases after security checks are completed. The schedule is as follows, all at 08:00 UTC: BTC on September 28, ETH on September 29, USDT on September 30, and other tokens, fiat and P2P services on October 2. Bitget said user account balances remain unaffected and its Protection Fund will cover the financial impact of the incident. Trading and deposits remain operational, while Mandiant and SlowMist continue to assist with the investigation.

SEC's Best-Known Crypto Advocate Hester Peirce to Step Down According to crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce will leave the agency on October 2 after nearly nine years of service. She will join Regent University School of Law as an associate professor in November. Known as "Crypto Mom," Peirce has been a longtime advocate for the crypto industry.

Circle and Tether Freeze $318,000 Linked to Bitget Hack According to CoinDesk, Circle and Tether blacklisted an address labeled "Bitget Exploiter 8," freezing 218,023 USDT and 99,990 USDC, worth approximately $318,000 combined. Circle took action at 05:00 UTC on September 25, and MistTrack later confirmed that Tether had also blacklisted the address. The frozen funds represent only a small fraction of the stolen assets. MistTrack data shows that other attacker-linked addresses still hold more than 63,000 ETH, which stablecoin issuers cannot freeze.

SEC Staff: Token Buybacks and Continued Development of Functional Crypto Networks May Not Trigger Howey Test The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued new FAQs clarifying its March 17 crypto guidance. Staff said Staking Receipt Tokens may qualify as “digital tools” or “digital commodities,” depending on their structure. For already functional crypto systems, continued maintenance, improvements, network development and non-security token buybacks generally do not constitute “essential managerial efforts” under the Howey test. However, buybacks promoted as generating returns before a system becomes functional may constitute such efforts. The FAQs represent staff views and have no legal force or effect.

Bitget CEO: A Fake Interview Cost Me $80,000 On September 24, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen @GracyBitget shared her experience of being targeted by the Lazarus Group. The attackers first compromised the official Twitter account of a major crypto media outlet, then impersonated a journalist to contact her and communicated with her assistant and PR team via Telegram, gradually building credibility. She said the attackers ultimately carried out the attack through a Zoom “interview,” highlighting how social engineering and identity impersonation continue to pose threats to the crypto industry.

CZ: Binance, BNB Chain Ecosystem and Community Will Do Everything Possible to Help Bitget CZ said it was a “tough day for Bitget” and that he expects and knows Binance, the BNB Chain ecosystem, and the community will do everything possible to help, adding, “Stay SAFU!” On the same day, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou, Binance co-CEO Richard Teng, MEXC CEO Vugar Usi, and CoinDCX co-founder Sumit Gupta also publicly offered assistance.

Bitget Raises Confirmed Incident Amount to $387.5M, Withdrawal Resumption Plan Due by Sept. 26 Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said in a post that the security incident has been contained and that no further unauthorized asset transfers are possible. Bitget will announce its withdrawal resumption plan by 4:00 AM UTC on September 26. Chen said Bitget has confirmed that approximately $387.5 million in assets were transferred to attacker-controlled addresses, up from the initial estimate of $351.6 million. The higher figure reflects additional Zcash and TRON assets identified during tracing and does not represent new theft. Bitget has also launched a recovery bounty program offering 5% of successfully frozen or recovered funds to eligible participants who directly contribute to those efforts.

Ethena Expands USDe Basis Strategy Into Tokenized Stocks With Binance Ethena is partnering with Binance as the first venue to extend USDe’s basis-trade strategy into equity perpetuals, with allocations beginning today. Binance bStocks will serve as tokenized spot collateral, while corresponding exposure is hedged through USDT-denominated equity perpetuals. The move extends USDe’s existing delta-neutral strategy beyond crypto-native assets into tokenized equities.

Bitget CEO: If Bybit Can Withstand a $1.5B Loss, We Can Withstand a $300M+ Loss On September 24, roughly $350 million was stolen from Bitget. CEO Gracy Chen @GracyBitget said the exchange could absorb the loss and handle a potential bank run when withdrawals resume. She said Bitget's retail trading volume is comparable to Bybit's, arguing that if Bybit could absorb a $1.5 billion loss, Bitget could absorb a $300 million-plus loss. Some public chains have frozen stolen funds, and recovery efforts are underway, though Chen does not expect a full recovery.

Bitget CEO: After FTX, I Don’t Think Major Exchanges Would Comingle User Funds On September 24, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen @GracyBitget said the collapse of FTX was a hard lesson for the entire industry, and that she does not believe major exchanges today would intentionally comingle customer funds. The exchange has a publicly verifiable protection fund of about $460 million, as well as more than $1 billion in Bitget-owned assets, separate from customer funds. She said user assets are backed 1:1 and can be checked through proof-of-reserves and Merkle Tree data.

Evercrest (KelpDAO) Files Civil Claim Against LayerZero and CEO Bryan Pellegrino in Canada LayerZero co-founder and CEO Bryan Pellegrino said Evercrest (KelpDAO) filed a notice of civil claim in British Columbia against LayerZero and Pellegrino personally. He called the claims meritless and said he would defend the case in Vancouver. KelpDAO said the lawsuit concerns the rsETH bridge exploit earlier this year. The complaint alleges that LayerZero failed to disclose risks in its technology or prevent its security infrastructure from being compromised, despite having reviewed and approved KelpDAO’s deployment and configuration in writing. In April 2026, KelpDAO’s rsETH bridge, built on LayerZero, was exploited, resulting in the theft of approximately 116,500 rsETH, then worth about $292 million. The two sides subsequently disputed responsibility for the incident.

Galaxy Adds $100 Million in sUSDS to Corporate Treasury and Acquires SKY Galaxy Digital has purchased $100 million of Sky Protocol’s yield-bearing stablecoin sUSDS using its own balance sheet and approved it as collateral across its institutional trading business, which has a $1.4 billion average loan book and serves more than 1,600 counterparties. Clients can continue earning the Sky Savings Rate on their full sUSDS positions while using them as loan collateral. Galaxy also acquired an undisclosed amount of SKY, while the two firms are discussing an expansion of their existing $500 million warehouse facility.

Binance Enters the Pre-IPO Subscription Market Binance Wallet announced the launch of Pre-Access campaigns hosted by PancakeSwap, allowing users to gain indirect tokenized exposure to companies that may go public. Participation quotas can be increased through Alpha Points, onchain bStocks trading volume and holdings, while assets remain self-custodied in users’ wallets. The first project has not yet been announced.