Bitget CEO Gracy Chen Loses $80K to Lazarus Group Scam Amid Major Exchange Breach

Gracy Chen, the CEO of Bitget, has disclosed that she fell victim to a social engineering scam that resulted in a personal loss of approximately $80,000. The scam involved hackers impersonating journalists through a compromised account of a well-known crypto media outlet, a tactic reminiscent of operations by North Korea's Lazarus Group.

This personal loss comes in the wake of a larger security breach at Bitget, where the exchange reported unauthorized withdrawals totaling around $387.5 million from its wallets. The breach, detected on September 24, was characterized by attackers spoofing transaction data to redirect funds without compromising private keys.

Chen noted that her experience aligns with previous tactics employed by the Lazarus Group, which has a history of targeting crypto executives. The dual incidents highlight significant vulnerabilities in the crypto industry, particularly regarding human-layer attacks that exploit trust rather than technical infrastructure.

In response to the breach, Bitget has paused withdrawals and is utilizing its User Protection Fund, valued at over $464 million, to cover customer losses. However, Chen's personal loss is not covered by this fund, raising concerns about the effectiveness of existing security measures.

The ongoing investigation into the breach has seen the attacker move funds through Binance, withdrawing $1.23 million and consolidating assets in a wallet believed to be under their control. Law enforcement and cybersecurity firms are currently involved in tracing the stolen funds across multiple blockchain networks.