The Bitget attacker moved stolen USDC through wallets and converted assets into ETH after the exchange estimated the breach at approximately $351.6 million. Security researcher Taylor Monahan flagged the activity on X, including USDC transfers, swaps and bridging through Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol. Bitget detected unauthorized transfers from hot wallets at 18:31 UTC on September 24, temporarily suspended withdrawals, and said deposits, trading, account balances and cold wallets remained secure. The exchange had not identified a final entry point and said investigators had ruled out a private-key leak, instead suspecting direct access to its systems. On-chain tracker Lookonchain estimated the stolen portfolio at roughly $356.8 million, including 102.93 million XRP, 31,890 ETH and 21.05 million USDC, using different pricing and measurement criteria. The movements renewed questions about Circle’s ability and authority to freeze identifiable USDC during an attack. Circle says it freezes funds when legally compelled by an appropriate authority, while its terms allow certain addresses to be blocked and state that on-chain USDC transactions cannot be reversed. Researchers have previously criticized the issuer’s response in suspected illicit-flow cases, including the Drift exploit, which led to a U.S. civil lawsuit alleging that roughly $230 million in stolen USDC moved through Circle’s cross-chain system before being converted. Those allegations have not been established by a court.