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.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 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.

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.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

An overview of the Base Ecosystem, with a focus on market leaders.

article-image

Although bitcoin hitting $120k by year’s end is looking unlikely

article-image

About 270 million HYPE has been claimed, valued around $7.6 billion

article-image

Stanford professors David Mazières and Dan Boneh will lead the lab alongside a cohort of graduate student researchers

article-image

With more companies holding BTC, bitcoin yielding strategies could become “a new corporate finance norm,” CoinShares posed

article-image

The proposal comes after Polygon governance considered a controversial use of bridged liquidity for yield

article-image

Can the community balance its decentralized ethos with the need for inclusivity and constructive debate?