Bitget

Bitget maintains a $300 million User Protection Fund to compensate customers in the event of a security breach or unforeseen losses. The platform stores the majority of assets in cold storage, publishes monthly Merkle-tree proof of reserves, and requires 2FA for all accounts. Bitget also offers an anti-phishing code and withdrawal address whitelisting. While Bitget has a clean record regarding platform hacks, the April 2025 VOXEL futures market manipulation incident highlighted risks from inadequate market surveillance.

Bitget operates under a series of MSB and VASP registrations rather than a single primary prudential licence. It is registered with FinCEN in the United States, FINTRAC in Canada, AUSTRAC in Australia, VARA in the UAE, and several EU member state registries including Lithuania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland, and Italy. It has a licence from El Salvador. While these registrations demonstrate a commitment to AML/KYC compliance, they are lighter-touch than a full banking or securities licence from a tier-1 regulator.

Bitget established a $300 million User Protection Fund specifically to cover user losses in the event of security incidents, platform failures, or extreme market events. The fund is held in a designated wallet and its balance is published transparently. This type of reserve is similar to what Binance's SAFU fund offers. The existence of this fund provides a buffer against losses that would otherwise fall on customers, though it is not equivalent to formal deposit insurance provided by a government-backed scheme.

On April 20, 2025, Bitget experienced a significant market manipulation incident on its VOXEL/USDT perpetual futures market. Eight accounts exploited a flaw in a market-making bot that caused an abnormal price spike, allowing the accounts to profit an estimated $20 million or more at the expense of other users. Bitget detected the abnormal trading, suspended the affected accounts, rolled back the manipulative trades, and compensated affected users. The incident raised questions about Bitget's market surveillance systems and risk controls.

Yes. Bitget publishes monthly Proof of Reserves (PoR) reports using Merkle-tree attestations that allow individual users to verify their balances are included in the audited total. The reports cover major assets including BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, and others. This cryptographic approach to reserve transparency allows any user to independently confirm that Bitget holds at least as many assets as it claims, distinguishing it from exchanges that rely solely on third-party audit certifications without on-chain verifiability.