CryptoSlate
Hackers behind Bitget’s $387.5 million breach moved 2,746 ZEC, worth about $3.9 million, into Zcash’s Ironwood shielded pool across three transactions on Wednesday. The transfer represents about 15% of the 18,917 ZEC stolen. Once inside the pool, subsequent transactions can conceal senders, recipients and amounts, making the funds harder to trace.
Why it matters
The shift follows attempts to move more than $50 million through NEAR Intents. Its SHIELD risk system rejected most of those transactions; about $503,000 was frozen after swaps began, while roughly $166,000 passed through. Rejected assets remained under the attackers’ control, leaving them able to seek other routes.
Bitget-linked wallets have also used THORChain to swap stolen assets into native Bitcoin. Bitquery estimated about 29,088 ETH, worth roughly $79 million at the time, had gone through THORChain for Bitcoin by Sept. 29. The network’s volume topped $1.5 billion in the days after the breach, up from about $146 million in the week before the attack, though total volume cannot be attributed to the hackers.
Market impact
The contrasting responses from NEAR and THORChain highlight a live dispute over whether permissionless infrastructure should block transactions linked to stolen funds. Screening can close some routes, but it does not freeze assets in self-custodied wallets; it can instead push activity toward other venues or privacy systems that offer investigators fewer ways to follow it.
Bitget is also managing customer withdrawals after a four-day freeze. More than $700 million left tracked Bitget wallets as withdrawal channels reopened, according to DeFiLlama data. The exchange said it had processed 9,585 Bitcoin withdrawal requests totaling 4,098 BTC by Sept. 28. CEO Gracy Chen said the Protection Fund had been rebuilt to more than $300 million. Bitget reported a 131% reserve ratio across 19 covered assets as of Sept. 29, with remaining withdrawal restrictions due to be lifted Friday.
Frequently asked questions
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How much of the stolen ZEC entered Zcash’s shielded pool?
About 2,746 ZEC, worth roughly $3.9 million, entered the Ironwood pool. That is approximately 15% of the 18,917 ZEC stolen.
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Why can the Ironwood pool make the funds harder to trace?
Deposits into the pool are visible, but subsequent movements can conceal senders, recipients and amounts, making it harder to link transfers to their origin.
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What happened to the attempted flows through NEAR Intents?
Its SHIELD risk system rejected most of more than $50 million in attempted transactions. About $503,000 was frozen after swaps began, and roughly $166,000 passed through.
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How has THORChain been used in the Bitget breach?
Bitget-linked wallets used THORChain to swap stolen assets into native Bitcoin. Bitquery estimated about 29,088 ETH had been sent through the protocol for Bitcoin by Sept. 29.
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What did Bitget report about reserves and withdrawals?
More than $700 million left tracked Bitget wallets as withdrawals reopened. Bitget reported a 131% reserve ratio across 19 covered assets as of Sept. 29, and its CEO said the Protection Fund exceeded $300 million.
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