Ripple Powerless as XRP Flees
The recent $387.5 million breach at crypto exchange Bitget has highlighted a critical limitation in the XRP ecosystem: Ripple, the company behind XRP, cannot freeze stolen tokens once they leave an ex
Unlike stablecoins or certain other digital assets that can be frozen by their issuers, XRP’s native design on its ledger prevents any party—including Ripple itself—from halting transactions or locking tokens after they move. This technical reality means that even as law enforcement and blockchain analysts trace the flow of assets, there is no mechanism to claw back or immobilize stolen XRP. As of September 27, over 54 million XRP had been moved from the original five accounts, with balances dropping precipitously within just eight hours on Saturday—from 70 million to 49 million tokens.
By 12:41 UTC Saturday, two of the hacked accounts that initially held 20 million XRP each had been reduced to just 23 and 55 tokens.
The attackers’ ability to rapidly disperse such a large volume of XRP underscores both the speed and finality with which native tokens can vanish from compromised wallets.
Stablecoin Freezes Leave Millions Unchecked
In contrast to XRP’s unfreezable nature, stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether acted quickly to lock down funds linked to the Bitget hack. Circle blacklisted an address labeled “Bitget Exploiter 8” at 05:00 UTC on Friday, using its USDC contract’s freeze function to trap about $99,990 USDC. Tether followed suit seven hours later, freezing $218,023 USDT in the same wallet. Combined, these actions immobilized approximately $318,000 in stablecoins—just a fraction of the overall theft.
Despite these interventions, most of the stolen assets slipped through unscathed. Blockchain data shows exploiter-linked addresses still control more than 63,000 ETH—worth tens of millions—and significant amounts of other tokens including Zcash and TRON-based assets. The hackers also spent nearly $20 million in USDT0 to purchase over 7,000 ETH within minutes via decentralized exchanges like UniswapX and 1inch Fusion. This rapid asset conversion made it even harder for centralized actors to intervene before funds were laundered through various protocols.
For all the headlines around stablecoin freezes, most stolen crypto remains far beyond anyone’s reach.
Bitget Raises Stolen Amount Estimate
Bitget initially tallied losses at around $183 million within an hour of detecting suspicious outflows from its hot wallets on September 24. That figure was revised upwards twice: first to $351.6 million when more affected addresses came into focus, then finally to $387.5 million after accounting for previously missed Zcash and TRON transfers. The theft spanned multiple networks—including Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains, the XRP Ledger, Zcash, and TRON—affecting a broad swath of tokens such as ETH, BNB, AVAX, XAUt (a gold-backed token), and TRX alongside stablecoins and XRP itself.
This updated estimate places Bitget’s hack among the largest exchange breaches in recent memory. Yet there is a notable tension: while almost $388 million was lost to attackers’ wallets according to onchain tracing reported by coindesk.com, Bitget’s User Protection Fund currently holds over $464 million—enough to cover all customer losses without impacting account balances. Withdrawals remain paused as a precautionary measure; however, trading and depositts have continued uninterrupted since the incident.
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North Korea Link Still Unconfirmed
Bitget CEO Gracy Chen has publicly speculated that a North Korean hacking group may be behind this sophisticated attack—a suspicion fueled by similarities with prior breaches attributed to state-sponsored actors from Pyongyang. However, official reports have yet to confirm any direct attribution or provide concrete evidence linking North Korea to this event.
Investigators determined that attackers compromised Bitget’s backend wallet infrastructure rather than simply stealing private keys—a method consistent with some high-profile hacks seen in recent years. Still, without further details or public findings from law enforcement or blockchain analytics firms, attribution remains uncertain for now.
A Market Perspective on XRP
Despite this high-profile theft and ongoing asset movements across blockchains, XRP itself has shown remarkable price stability in recent days. As of September 27, XRP trades at $1.54—virtually unchanged over 24 hours and up just +0.11% for the week. Over a longer horizon (30 days), gains are similarly muted at +0.09%. With a market cap rank of #5 and an all-time high set at $3.65 back in July 2025, current price action suggests that markets are treating this incident as an isolated operational failure rather than a systemic risk for XRP itself.
Key developments still ahead
Bitget continues to pause withdrawals following the $387.5 million breach, and if the exchange does not announce a timeline for resuming withdrawals, user access to funds will remain restricted until further notice.