Bitget CEO Says Recovery of $388M From Security Breach Unlikely

WHY IT MATTERS

When you store cryptocurrency on an exchange, you are trusting that company to keep your funds safe — similar to depositing money in a bank. Unlike traditional banks, however, crypto exchanges are not always insured by government-backed programs. A 'security breach' means that attackers found a way to break into the exchange's systems and steal funds. When the CEO of an exchange says she is not optimistic about recovering stolen money, it highlights a key risk of centralized exchanges: if they are hacked, getting the money back can be extremely difficult because cryptocurrency transactions are generally irreversible. This is why many in the crypto community emphasize the phrase 'not your keys, not your coins,' meaning that holding your own cryptocurrency in a personal wallet, rather than on an exchange, gives you direct control over your assets.