Mercado Bitcoin Suspends Deposits and Withdrawals After Security Incident
Brazilian crypto platform Mercado Bitcoin has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals following a security incident. Analytics firms estimate that $46 million to $49 million in assets were moved.
Security incident at Mercado Bitcoin in the early morning hours of November 2, 2026, led to the preventive suspension of cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals on the Brazilian platform. The company said it detected a problem in one of its systems, quickly contained it, and launched an investigation.
The exchange also announced that it was monitoring asset transfers and cooperating with the relevant authorities. It has not yet disclosed when deposits and withdrawals will be fully restored. The technical cause of the incident and the attacker’s identity are also unknown.
Security Incident and Estimates of Transferred Assets
The exchange itself has not yet determined the scale of the financial transfers. Independent on-chain analyses differ slightly. Arkham said it identified at least $46 million in assets transferred across blockchains. Chainalysis estimates the value of assets transferred by the attacker at approximately $49 million.
Chainalysis said it cooperated with Mercado Bitcoin, law enforcement agencies, and other partners in responding to the incident. According to the company, this cooperation helped freeze nearly $10 million in assets.
However, freezing some of the assets alone does not determine the final damage or the asset recovery rate. Mercado Bitcoin has not announced its own confirmed loss amount, and the difference between the Arkham and Chainalysis estimates shows that tracking all transfers may not yet be complete.
Exchange Statement and Service Restrictions
In its statement, Mercado Bitcoin claims that customers suffered no losses and that no data was leaked in the incident. However, these claims have not been independently confirmed in the available materials. They should therefore be distinguished from confirmed facts: the security incident, the interruption of deposits and withdrawals, and the visible on-chain transfers of assets.
For platform users, the immediate impact is primarily the suspension of cryptocurrency transfers on the exchange. The published information does not state when deposits and withdrawals will become available again or whether users will need to complete new security steps.
What Happens Next
Further clarification of the incident should come primarily from official exchange information about the affected assets and compromised system. Confirmations from stablecoin issuers, police, or regulators regarding frozen or recovered funds will also be important.
It has not yet been confirmed whether the incident is related to other recent attacks on crypto exchanges. There are also no publicly confirmed technical findings establishing the method of attack or the perpetrator.
Sources
- Mercado Bitcoin – statement cited by Portal do Bitcoin – Quotes Mercado Bitcoin’s announcement about the incident, the temporary suspension of deposits and withdrawals, its claim that customers were not harmed, and the absence of a data leak.
- Chainalysis – Reports its participation in the response, an estimate of approximately $49 million in stolen assets, and the freezing of nearly $10 million.
- Arkham – Reports an on-chain estimate of at least $46 million and transfers across at least ten blockchains.
- The Record – Independently confirms the incident announcement and service suspension, and that the exchange itself did not confirm the reported financial amount.
Verified and updated: November 3, 2026 06:23
