Bitget announced on September 26, 2026 that Bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals are scheduled to restart at 08:00 UTC on September 28, followed by Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT) and other services. The plan provides a timetable for access to funds after a security incident, but does not establish that withdrawals have resumed. Bitget announcement
What happened
The exchange published a phased restoration plan following the September 24 incident. The schedule below records announced dates, not completed transfers. Bitget's service timetable
| Date, 2026 | Scheduled service | Access milestone |
|---|---|---|
| September 28 | BTC withdrawals | First scheduled phase |
| September 29 | ETH withdrawals | Selected networks |
| September 30 | USDT withdrawals | Selected networks |
| October 2 | Other tokens, fiat, P2P | Remaining services |
All phases are scheduled for 08:00 UTC. ETH covers Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum, Base and Optimism; USDT covers Ethereum, BSC, Solana and Tron. Other networks should not be assumed available from an asset's date alone. Official network list
In a September 25 update, Bitget revised its estimate of assets transferred to attacker-controlled addresses to approximately $387.5 million, from $351.6 million. It attributed the revision to additional Zcash and TRON transfers identified during tracing, rather than another theft. Those are the exchange's estimates, which it says may change as transactions are classified. Bitget tracing update
Where analysts disagree
The available evidence does not establish a settled dispute between independent analysts. Instead, the exchange's assurances and outside reporting answer different questions.
Bitget says the vulnerability has been remediated, customer balances remain unaffected and its Protection Fund covers the financial impact. These are company statements, not an independent certification of security or asset availability. Bitget's position
Lawrence Mondal's reporting for crypto.news emphasizes a narrower distinction: unchanged customer balances do not mean unauthorized transfers from exchange wallets never happened. It also treats the dates as planned reopenings requiring platform confirmation. crypto.news analysis
Dishita Malvania's report for The Crypto Times identifies further limits: a full public root-cause report, the total value frozen and successful execution of each phase remained unresolved in its September 26 account. Reporting the schedule corroborates what was announced; it does not independently validate Bitget's remediation claims. The Crypto Times report
Why it matters
The practical mechanism is access, rather than a forecast for token prices. If an account can trade internally but cannot transfer assets out, its holder cannot use those assets elsewhere through a withdrawal. That distinction follows from the reported continuation of trading and deposits during the pause. crypto.news service-status reporting
A phased reopening therefore creates separate operational tests. Successful BTC processing would answer a question about that service, while leaving the later ETH and USDT phases to be demonstrated. Treating the first opening as proof that the entire platform has normalized would go beyond the announced plan.
The episode also separates custody from market exposure. Our comparison of Bitcoin ETF and direct-holding custody examines how holding structures change operational dependencies. Here, the immediate issue is the exchange's ability to restore transfers, not whether Bitcoin's market price rises or falls.
Does a withdrawal schedule prove funds are accessible?
No. A published timetable is evidence of an intended service change. Completed withdrawals would provide evidence of execution. Neither alone establishes the full cause of an incident or resolves every question about an exchange's financial position.
Recovery is another separate process. Bitget says some assets have been frozen through industry coordination and offers bounties for eligible freezing or recovery actions. Its update does not quantify the total frozen. A frozen asset should not be described as money already returned to customers. Recovery-program terms
What to watch
The first checkpoint is the scheduled BTC opening. Later phases need their own confirmation, including the specific supported network. This article describes the plan as checked on September 27, 2026, before the announced restart.
Watch for a detailed incident report and clearly separated figures for assets traced, frozen and recovered. The Crypto Times identified those disclosure gaps; closing them would provide information beyond assurances that the incident is contained. Outstanding questions
Bottom line
- BTC withdrawals are scheduled for September 28 at 08:00 UTC.
- ETH, USDT and remaining services have separate scheduled phases.
- Bitget's revised transfer estimate is approximately $387.5 million.
- The published timetable does not demonstrate completed withdrawals.