Bitget Hack-Linked Wallets Move More Than Half of Stolen XRP
About 54 million XRP worth $83 million has left five initial wallets, while the XRP Ledger cannot freeze its native asset.
Wallets linked to the Bitget theft have moved about 54 million XRP worth roughly $83 million, putting more than half of the stolen tokens outside the five initial wallets and limiting recovery options.
The wallets originally held about 103 million XRP, valued at approximately $160 million at the time. Their combined balance fell from about 70 million XRP at 12:32 a.m. ET (04:32 UTC) Saturday to roughly 49 million XRP eight hours later.
The transfers accelerated as the funds were divided among additional wallets. One attempt to move about 521,000 XRP failed because the receiving account lacked enough funds; a second wallet sent the same amount to the same recipient about an hour later.
Unlike USDC and USDT, XRP, the native asset of the XRP Ledger, cannot be frozen through a built-in blacklist function. Ripple can control tokens it issues on the network but does not control transfers of native XRP.
That leaves exchanges as a potential intervention point if the stolen tokens reach a platform that can restrict the associated account and block withdrawals. Bitget has said its protection fund will cover the losses and that withdrawals will resume in stages, beginning with Bitcoin on Sept. 28 and covering other assets by Oct. 2.
