A bug in Bitget Exchange's market maker BOT caused the VOXEL trading pair's price to fluctuate

On April 20, 2025, a price fluctuation event occurred in the VOXEL contract trading pair of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitget, which attracted widespread attention, resulting in a series of chain reactions such as a surge in abnormal trading volume, profits for some users, and the exchange's emergency suspension of withdrawals.

The following article will sort out the ins and outs of this incident from the perspectives of the background, process, impact, and Bitget's response measures.

01 Background of the incident

1. Introduction to Bitget Exchange

Founded in 2018, Bitget is a global cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Seychelles. It focuses on derivatives trading (such as futures contracts) and provides multiple functions such as spot trading and wallet services.

According to data from platforms such as CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko, Bitget ranks among the top five global crypto exchanges, with more than 100 million users covering more than 150 countries and regions. VOXEL (Voxies) is a blockchain-based game token related to NFT and the metaverse. It supports spot and futures trading on the Bitget platform.

2. VOXEL trading pair and contract trading

VOXEL/USDT is a relatively active trading pair on Bitget, especially in the futures contract market. Futures trading allows users to amplify their profits through leverage, but it also comes with high risks.

Bitget's VOXEL futures trading pair supports long and short operations, attracting a large number of speculators and quantitative traders. However, the complexity and high volatility of contract trading also bury hidden dangers for potential technical problems.

02 Event Process

1. Occurrence of abnormal transactions

Around 16:00 (UTC) on April 20, 2025, Bitget's VOXEL/USDT contract trading pair experienced abnormal price fluctuations. According to user feedback and community discussions on the X platform, the exchange's market maker robot is suspected of having a technical failure, resulting in the failure of the price matching mechanism.

Specifically, it is manifested as follows:

Abnormal price matching: Some users found that in VOXEL contract transactions, orders to open long orders at $0.0135 and set a stop profit of $0.0148 were almost instantly eaten by the robot at an abnormal speed and triggered the stop profit. This operation is almost impossible to achieve under normal market conditions, suggesting that there is a loophole in the system.

Surge in trading volume: VOXEL contract trading volume surged to "tens of billions" in a short period of time, far exceeding the normal trading scale, showing a concentrated outbreak of abnormal trading behavior.

2. User "zero-cost" phenomenon

Some keen traders quickly discovered this loophole and used the robot's abnormal order-taking mechanism to obtain huge profits through repeated order placement operations.

Some people made a profit of up to 3 million RMB (about 400,000 US dollars) in a short period of time through "zero-cost" operations (i.e., taking advantage of system loopholes to make low-cost profits). These users maximized the abnormal response of the system through high-frequency order placement and stop-profit operations.

3. Exchange emergency response

After the incident, Bitget quickly took the following measures:

Suspend withdrawals: To prevent capital outflow, the exchange suspended the withdrawal function of VOXEL-related accounts shortly after the incident. Bitget urgently restricted the withdrawal channel to assess the loss and prevent further risks.

Technical investigation: Bitget officially issued a statement through its "angel" account @Odyssey_banban, stating that the technical team has intervened and started to locate the root cause of the problem, and promised to upgrade the risk control algorithm to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

03 Impact of the incident

1. User trust crisis

This incident has had a significant impact on Bitget's reputation.

A user named X joked that Bitget's official staff had commented that "the handling of the price change incident of the JELLY trading pair of the Hyperliquid exchange was immature, unethical and unprofessional", and it was not long after the JELLY incident that Bitget also had a similar incident. Some netizens said that this time "the boomerang hit the forehead".

2. Market panic

The VOXEL price fluctuation incident triggered extensive discussions in the crypto community about the security of centralized exchanges (CEX). Some people worry that in the current market environment, major negative events in exchanges may trigger a chain reaction and aggravate market volatility. VOXEL tokens themselves have also attracted attention due to the incident, and their prices may face short-term sharp fluctuations.

3. Platform losses and disputes

Bitget may have suffered "quite a lot of losses" in this incident. Although most abnormal withdrawal requests were rejected, a small amount of funds were successfully transferred out. More complicated is whether users' profits from "legal" contract operations should be recovered, which has caused legal and moral disputes.

Some users believe that users should not be responsible for technical problems of exchanges, and Bitget may face the problem of how to balance user rights and platform losses.

04 Incident response

1. Official statement and transparent handling

Bitget promised to handle this incident in a transparent manner through its official channels (including X platform and official website announcements). @Odyssey_banban's statement emphasized that Bitget will regard this incident as "a stress test in the frontier exploration of the crypto industry" and plans to synchronize the progress of the incident investigation to the community. The technical team is optimizing the market maker robot algorithm and trading system to improve the stability of the platform.

2. Risk control and technology upgrade

To avoid a recurrence of similar incidents, Bitget may need to:

Strengthen system testing: conduct comprehensive stress tests on market maker robots and price matching mechanisms to ensure stable operation in high-frequency trading scenarios.

Improve risk control capabilities: introduce more advanced anomaly detection mechanisms, monitor transaction volume and price fluctuations in real time, and intercept potential loopholes in a timely manner.

User education: Through announcements and community interactions, remind users to pay attention to potential problems in high-risk transactions and enhance market transparency.

3. Industry enlightenment

This incident is not only a test for Bitget, but also a wake-up call for the entire crypto industry. With the rapid development of blockchain technology and derivatives trading, the technical capabilities and risk control levels of exchanges must keep up with the pace of market demand. Centralized exchanges need to find a balance between innovation and stability to maintain user trust and market order.

05 Event Summary

The price fluctuation of VOXEL trading pair on Bitget Exchange is a typical case caused by technical loopholes, which exposes the potential risks of centralized exchanges in high-frequency trading environments.

From the occurrence of abnormal transactions to the emergency response of the exchange, and then to the fierce response of the community, the incident reflects the complex challenges of the crypto industry in technology, trust and regulation.

Bitget's subsequent handling methods - including transparent communication, technical upgrades and user compensation measures - will directly determine whether it can restore user confidence and reshape its market image.

For participants in the crypto industry, this incident reminds us that technological innovation is important, but robust risk control and transparent governance are equally indispensable. In the blockchain, a territory full of opportunities and challenges, only by continuous evolution and improvement can we gain a foothold in the fierce competition.