Brazil’s Largest Crypto Exchange Reports $11 Million Frozen After Major Hack

Mercado Bitcoin halted deposits and withdrawals on November 2 following a security breach. The Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange estimated that approximately $38 million in cryptoassets had been affected.

In its initial statement, the exchange said it had contained a security incident affecting one of its systems and that no customer information had been exposed. It also reported that it was coordinating with the authorities in its investigation and that efforts to locate the affected assets were underway.

Blockchain security firm Hypernative initially flagged more than $40 million in potentially related suspicious transfers across at least 10 blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Tron. Chainalysis separately estimated that approximately $49 million had been stolen.

In a subsequent update, Mercado Bitcoin put the amount involved at around $38 million and said approximately $11.2 million had been frozen with assistance from Tether, Circle, and Chainalysis. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino had earlier reported freezing more than 4.5 million USDT connected to the incident.

The exchange also published destination wallet addresses to help others trace the funds. It had not disclosed how the attackers gained access. The exchange said it would announce restoration timings through its official channels.

Mercado Bitcoin warned customers about follow-up scams, saying it never requests passwords, verification codes, or recovery phrases, and does not offer reimbursements through links, WhatsApp, or telephone calls.