LONDON, United Kingdom — Crypto exchange platform Bitget announced on Friday 25 September that hackers had stolen $351.6 million (about R6.3 billion) in assets, adding that it suspects the attack was linked to North Korea.

“User funds are safe,” the company said in a statement, specifying that these “unauthorised transfers” were detected on Thursday evening.

Bitget said losses related to the incident would be covered by its protection fund, which holds more than $464 million (about R8.4 billion).

Chief executive Gracy Chen said in a post on X that the company holds more than $1 billion (about R18 billion) in its own assets.

“This attack is consistent with techniques used by DPRK-linked hacker groups,” she added.

In a statement to AFP, Chen said that user withdrawals remained temporarily suspended as a precaution, while “trading and deposits continue to operate normally.”

The incident is the largest theft of crypto assets recorded since the beginning of the year, according to data from analytics firm TRM Labs.

In an analysis published on 8 September, TRM Labs listed 333 incidents since the start of 2026, with a total of $1.73 billion (about R31.1 billion) stolen.