SEC's Crypto Mom to Resign; Bitget Breach Hits $388M, North Korea Suspected

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, widely known as "Crypto Mom" for her advocacy of clear, rules-based crypto regulation, announced she will leave her post on October 2, 2026. Peirce posted her resignation letter on X on Friday, thanking the president for the "honor of her professional lifetime" and citing her departure under the leadership of Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda. She served on the commission for approximately eight years and led the SEC's Crypto Task Force since February 4, 2025. Her official term expired in June 2025, though commissioners may continue serving up to 18 months beyond expiration if not replaced.

Crypto exchange Bitget has revised its estimate of assets affected by Thursday's security breach upward to $388 million, roughly $35 million more than initially reported. The exchange identified additional affected assets on the Zcash and TRON networks beyond its original $352 million figure, though Bitget clarified the higher number reflects more complete accounting rather than new unauthorized transfers. Attackers targeted addresses across Ethereum Virtual Machine networks, the XRP Ledger, Zcash, and TRON, stealing XRP, ETH, USDt, ZEC, USDC, USDT0, XAUt, BNB, AVAX, and TRX. Withdrawals remain paused as the exchange investigates and runs a program aimed at recovering stolen funds.

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said preliminary evidence suggests North Korean hackers were behind the $351.6 million breach, pointing to IP addresses linked to VPN services used by a known North Korean threat group. The incident ranks among the largest crypto security breaches on record, though it remains well below the approximately $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit in February 2025. The attack underscores persistent concerns about state-sponsored crypto theft and the security vulnerabilities facing major exchanges.