Chainalysis Estimates AI Cut Bitget Bridge Reconciliation From 20 Hours to Under 10 Minutes

Custom automation built with Chainalysis’ in-house AI reduced more than 20 hours of manual bridge reconciliation to under 10 minutes during the investigation of Bitget’s Sept. 24, 2026, breach, the firm estimated.

Bitget first estimated the affected funds at about $351.6 million. On Sept. 25, it revised the figure to approximately $387.5 million after including assets on Zcash and TRON, saying the updated total did not reflect additional transfers after the breach was contained.

About $387 million left Bitget in 23 transfers during the first three hours after the exploit. The funds reached four networks: Ethereum accounted for 49.7%, XRP for 40.8%, Zcash for 7.6% and Tron for 1.8%.

Investigators defined the tracing logic, reviewed the automated results and directed the investigation. Labels identifying stolen funds appeared on Chainalysis’ data platform within minutes. Investigators also traced tens of millions of dollars in XRP through a cross-chain liquidity protocol and converted it to Bitcoin (BTC) over roughly a day and a half.

Chainalysis attributed the attack to North Korean actors and said the theft pushed crypto attributed to North Korea-linked actors in 2026 above $1 billion. The funds remain under monitoring; no recovery amount has been confirmed.

Bitget’s initial notice said the breach affected parts of its hot- and warm-wallet layers, while cold wallets remained secure. The exchange said it notified authorities and on-chain security firms.