Bitget Rolls Out $200M ‘Protection Fund’ to Safeguard User’s Crypto

The Singapore-based exchange is hoping the fund will help boost its profile and restore trust in the community by insuring against hacks

article-image

Singapore; Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • Bitget wants to shore up trader and investor confidence with a new “protection fund”
  • Bitcoin and tether will make up the exchange’s war chest, currently worth more than $200 million

Singapore-headquartered crypto derivatives exchange Bitget said Sunday it has launched a new fund designed to safeguard against hacks and theft — a bid to lift the industry’s image after crypto’s recent downturn.

The exchange’s $200 million-plus “Protection Fund,” which consists of 6,000 BTC ($140.2 million) and 80 million USDT, is an attempt to quell security concerns and boost investor confidence, Bitget said.

Recent market turmoil, fueled by lender contagion that caught many industry participants by surprise, has battered faith in crypto’s ability to weather significant periods of volatility.

Multiple lenders and exchanges moved to restrict or freeze crypto asset withdrawals from their platforms following revelations they didn’t have the capital on hand to satisfy users who wished to opt-out of the market.

Coupled with billions of dollars lost to hacks and theft last year, trust in the crypto community alongside the platforms storing users’ assets continues to erode.

Part of the fund’s stablecoin allocation is meant to help alleviate pressures associated with market volatility, Bitget said.

The exchange, established in 2018, is one of South-East Asia’s fastest growing derivatives exchanges boasting around 20,000 active traders. Bitget processed close to $100 billion in transactional value in 2021, according to its LinkedIn profile.

Bitget has pledged to secure the value of its war chest over a three-year horizon. It’s expected to be self-funded and non-reliant on third-party insurance in what it believes will help navigate beyond “external bureaucracy” or “policy changes.”

“The protection fund will help us mitigate investors’ concerns and attract potential users,” Bitget’s managing director Gracy Chen said in a statement. “We believe our initiative would encourage other CEXs [centralized exchanges] to address concerns of accountability … and help win back investors’ confidence.”

The move echoes Binance’s decision to establish its so-called “Secure Asset Fund” in 2018, which came in handy when hackers raided the exchange for $40 million in the following year.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
  • Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

tg trading bot report graphic.png

Research

Telegram trading bots have found their primary niche in highly speculative token launches and retail-dominated memecoin markets, with many features specifically tailored to token sniping and copy-trading strategies.

article-image

Ethereum is hoping that increased DA will grow user demand — and its profits through DA fees

article-image

11 years ago, Bitcoin contributors prevented a supply crisis… two centuries from now

article-image

Both samczsun and ZachXBT have issued warnings after the Bybit hack last month

article-image

The investor criticized Michael Saylor’s plan to render his personal bitcoin holdings inaccessible to anyone else forever

article-image

The exchange has structural defenses and protocols to limit manipulations

article-image

Upshift is being spun out of August, which raised $10 million earlier this month