Mercado Bitcoin halts withdrawals after multimillion-dollar breach, vows clients will suffer no losses
Brazil's largest crypto exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, suspended deposits and withdrawals following an overnight security incident involving tens of millions of dollars in drained digital assets.
Mercado Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Brazil, temporarily halted deposits and withdrawals on Nov. 2, 2026, after identifying an overnight security incident across its systems. The platform stated that its security protocols were triggered to protect client assets, assuring users that no customer data was leaked and pledging that clients will not suffer any financial losses.[3][8][10]
Estimates regarding the scale of the exploit varied across security firms and the exchange itself. Blockchain analytics firm Hypernative estimated that more than $40 million was drained across at least 10 blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Tron. Independent trackers, including Arkham and Lookonchain, pegged the missing funds at over $46 million, while Chainalysis reported an amount near $49 million. In an update later that evening, Mercado Bitcoin placed its own estimate at approximately $38 million and reiterated that it would absorb the loss.[2][3][5][7][8][9]
According to Hypernative, the outflows appeared as direct wallet transfers rather than a smart contract exploit, shifting roughly 2,852 ETH, 106 BTC, 10,700 SOL, and 6.7 million XLM alongside over 200 altcoins to fresh addresses. Mercado Bitcoin subsequently released tracking addresses across multiple networks to coordinate recovery efforts.[8]
In response to the exploit, stablecoin issuers and tracing partners moved rapidly to restrict the stolen funds. Tether froze more than 4.5 million USDT connected to the attacker. Mercado Bitcoin later disclosed that roughly $11 million of the affected assets had already been blocked in collaboration with Tether, Circle, Paxos, BRL1, and Chainalysis. The exchange confirmed that platform operations will resume only after complete security conditions are verified.[1][3][5][6]
Key facts
- Mercado Bitcoin detected an overnight security breach on Nov. 2, 2026, and suspended deposits and withdrawals as a precaution.
- Mercado Bitcoin estimated the affected assets at about $38 million and stated clients would not experience any asset loss.
- External estimates of the loss ranged from over $40 million according to Hypernative, to roughly $46 million according to Arkham and Lookonchain, and $49 million according to Chainalysis.
- Hypernative noted that the outflows were direct transfers rather than a smart contract exploit, involving assets across at least 10 blockchains.
- Tether froze over 4.5 million USDT connected to the attacker's addresses.
- Mercado Bitcoin said it coordinated with Tether, Circle, Paxos, BRL1, and Chainalysis to block about $11 million in stolen funds.
Sources · 9 sources
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DecryptArticle ·
Brazil's Largest Exchange Mercado Bitcoin Halts Withdrawals After $40 Million Hack Brazil's largest crypto exchange paused deposits and withdrawals after a security incident. Tether froze more than 4.5 million USDT tied to the attack.
Open source - PR
ProtosArticle ·
Mercado Bitcoin hack losses are at $46M and growing Brazilian crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin has paused withdrawals and deposits after losing an estimated $46 million worth of crypto to hackers. The exchange claimed it contained the security incident this morning, saying, “There was no harm to customers,” and “there was no data breach.” It said the temporary withdrawal and deposit suspension was a “precautionary measure” and that the firm is investigating what happened alongside “competent authorities.” Mercado Bitcoin already shared wallet addresses Akrham analyst Emmett Gallic claims Mercado Bitcoin’s hack losses are worth over $46 million and growing. He claims, “Lots of old deposit addresses are being swept by the hacker currently, while they sell off memecoins and altcoins.” The exchange had already shared the various wallet addresses where the stolen funds were sent in order to help track the funds. Binance still holds the title for the largest heist ever Just last week, the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, was hacked for over $6 billion. This beat the previous heist record that involved the theft of almost $1.5 billion from the crypto exchange Bybit. Binance has since opened withdrawals and deposits again, and has seen over $6 billion in net outflows leave the exchange. LIVE: Binance resumes withdrawals leading to $6B outflows Read more: How the Binance hack happened on-chain on Ethereum The US Secret Service is now involved in investigating the hack, which is believed to have been carried out by the North Korea-linked hacking group Trader Traitor. Node operators such as the ones operated by THORChain have also been told to block transactions by the FBI. Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks . For more informed news and investigations, follow us on X , Bluesky , and Google News , or subscribe to our YouTube channel. The post Mercado Bitcoin hack losses are at $46M and growing appeared first on Protos .
Open source - UN
UnchainedArticle ·
Brazil’s Mercado Bitcoin Puts Security Incident at $38 Million, Says Clients Won’t Lose Assets Mercado Bitcoin said about $38 million in assets was involved in the security incident that led the Brazilian exchange to halt deposits and withdrawals on Monday, giving its own figure for the first time. In a Portuguese-language update posted at 6:17 p.m. ET Monday, the exchange said it had already blocked $11 million working with Tether, Circle, Paxos, BRL1 and Chainalysis . It added that more funds that could be blocked had been identified and that containment was ongoing. Get Unchained’s crypto news in your inbox with the free Unchained Daily newsletter . No Client Losses, Exchange Says In the first post of the evening thread, the exchange in Unchained’s translation told clients “you will not suffer any loss of assets” as a result of the incident. Mercado Bitcoin said it detected the problem on its platform in the early hours of Monday and triggered its security protocols, suspending access to services as a precaution to protect client assets. Services will resume only when security conditions are fully in place, the exchange said, and it will share timing only through its official channels. How the Figures Compare The exchange’s $38 million estimate is below the more than $40 million that security firm Hypernative estimated had been drained from wallets it linked to the exchange, as Unchained reported on Monday. Mercado Bitcoin’s first statement , posted Monday morning, said there had been no losses to clients and no data leak, and gave no dollar figure. A later update listed the destination addresses tied to the movements on EVM chains, Bitcoin, Solana, Stellar and Tron so they could be tracked. The exchange has not said how the incident happened. It came four days after Binance’s hot wallets were drained on Oct. 29. Opsek founder Pablo Sabbatella , discussing the recent hacks on Unchained on Monday, said “if the industry really doesn’t wake up,” then “things are gonna get far worse.” Sabbatella cited the rapid advancement of AI as a cause for concern. Related Listen: How Attackers Stole $388M From Bitget Without Its Keys: Uneasy Money The post Brazil’s Mercado Bitcoin Puts Security Incident at $38 Million, Says Clients Won’t Lose Assets appeared first on Unchained .
Open source - CR
CryptoSlate@CryptoSlatePost on X ·
.@tether froze over $4.5M in USDT linked to Mercado Bitcoin’s breach. Arkham identified about $46M in crypto held by wallets attributed to the attacker. By @hardeyjumoh https://t.co/o6RXwEKebI
Open source - CH
ChainalysisArticle ·
Disrupting the Mercado Bitcoin Attack: How Chainalysis Led the Freeze of Nearly $10M in Stolen Funds Early this morning Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil’s largest crypto exchange, suffered a security incident that resulted in approximately $49 million in… The post Disrupting the Mercado Bitcoin Attack: How Chainalysis Led the Freeze of Nearly $10M in Stolen Funds appeared first on Chainalysis .
Open source - CO
CoindeskArticle ·
Mercado Bitcoin pledges to cover all user losses after near $40 million hack Partners like Tether, Circle, and Chainalysis helped freeze $11M of the stolen assets.
Open source - BL
Bloomberg@businessPost on X ·
Brazilian crypto broker Mercado Bitcoin said it would absorb a $40 million loss and that no customer losses were expected after a hack on Monday, the latest in a series of attacks on digital-asset platforms. https://t.co/okgb817muW
Open source - UN
UnchainedArticle ·
Mercado Bitcoin Halts Withdrawals Over Security Incident as Hypernative Flags $40 Million Drain Brazilian crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin suspended deposits and withdrawals on Monday after what it called a security incident in one of its systems. Blockchain security firm Hypernative estimated that more than $40 million was drained from wallets it attributes to the exchange. In an official statement on X at 12:56 UTC, Mercado Bitcoin said it had identified and quickly contained the incident overnight. The exchange wrote in Portuguese that there were no losses to clients and that no data had leaked. Its teams were investigating, tracing the assets and coordinating with the authorities, it said. The exchange has not given a loss figure, has not called the incident a hack and has not said whose funds moved. About 90 minutes later, Mercado Bitcoin posted the destination addresses it had identified in movements tied to the incident, on EVM networks, Bitcoin, Solana, Stellar and Tron. It said the addresses were shared only so they could be identified and tracked. Get Unchained’s crypto news in your inbox with the free Unchained Daily newsletter . What the Bitcoin Address Holds The Bitcoin address the exchange named had received about 106.07 BTC across seven transactions, according to an Unchained review of the address on the Blockstream block explorer at 14:58 UTC. The first transfer landed in a block timestamped 05:42 UTC, and 104.43 BTC of the total arrived in a single transfer timestamped 06:41 UTC. None of the bitcoin had left the address at the time of the review. Hypernative’s Count In an alert shared by Opsek founder Pablo Sabbatella, Hypernative described the outflows as “plain transfers, not a smart contract exploit,” and said it was still unclear how the attacker got signing access. By its count, the attacker now holds about 2,852 ETH , 106 BTC, 10,700 SOL and 6.7 million XLM, plus more than 200 other tokens, in fresh addresses on at least 10 chains. It named nine: Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, Tron, Polygon, Arbitrum, Avalanche, BNB Chain and Stellar. The firm said most of the money moved in a 34-minute window, from 06:19 to 06:53 UTC, but that sweeps of the exchange’s bitcoin deposit addresses to the same attacker had begun earlier, at 02:15 UTC. Mercado Bitcoin has not confirmed any of Hypernative’s figures. The incident came four days after billions of dollars drained from Binance’s hot wallets on Oct. 29. Neither Mercado Bitcoin nor Hypernative has tied the two events together. In its second post, Mercado Bitcoin said it was working to restore operations safely and would keep clients informed through its official channels. Related Listen: Can THORChain Stay Neutral After the $388M Bitget Hack? The post Mercado Bitcoin Halts Withdrawals Over Security Incident as Hypernative Flags $40 Million Drain appeared first on Unchained .
Open source - LO
Lookonchain@lookonchainPost on X ·
Another exchange, @MercadoBitcoin, has been hacked for over $46M! Over $9M in stolen assets has already been frozen. The hacker still holds the following altcoins, which could face selling pressure: 372.99B $PEPE ($1.79M) 12.82K $AAVE ($1.61M) 769.95K $PENDLE ($1.35M) 29.83K $EVA ($1.26M) 1.98M $VIRTUAL ($1.15M) 147.84K $UNI ($1.04M) 2.67M $ONDO ($1.03M) https://t.co/JDJwvsXnzX
Open source - CB
Crypto Banter@crypto_banterPost on X ·
🚨BRAZIL’S LARGEST CRYPTO EXCHANGE MERCADO BITCOIN REPORTS SECURITY INCIDENT! @MercadoBitcoin, Brazil’s biggest crypto platform with millions of clients, said it detected and quickly contained a security incident in one of its systems overnight. The company stated there were no losses to customers and no data leaks. As a precaution, deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended while it investigates and works with authorities. Blockchain security firm @HypernativeLabs flagged suspicious outflows from wallets attributed to Mercado Bitcoin totaling over $40M across roughly 10 chains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Tron. Mercado Bitcoin has not confirmed the figure or that funds were drained.
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