Mercado Bitcoin to begin phased reopening on Monday after $46m hack
The Brazilian exchange will open view-only account access before resuming trading and withdrawals. Mercado Bitcoin pledged to cover all customer losses using company funds.
Key takeaways
- 1Mercado Bitcoin suffered a cyberattack resulting in over $46 million in stolen crypto assets.
- 2Account access will begin restoring on Monday with a view-only balance check feature.
- 3More than $15 million in stolen assets have been frozen with help from industry partners.
- 4Mercado Bitcoin committed to repurchasing stolen tokens and reimbursing customer losses from company funds.
Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin will begin restoring customer account access on Monday following a hack that blockchain analysts estimated resulted in more than $46 million in stolen digital assets, Cointelegraph reported on 4 November. The platform will start with a view-only phase while security clearance procedures continue.
Under the initial stage of the reopening plan, customers will regain access through the exchange website to check balances, review statements, and view holdings and investments. Transfers, withdrawals and trading will remain suspended. The Defiant reported that withdrawals and active trading will resume in later phases after independent security testing.
Mercado Bitcoin pledged to use company funds to replace affected assets rather than passing losses to users. The company said its trading desk is preparing to execute asset repurchases across domestic and international markets. The exchange said collaboration with industry partners has already helped freeze more than $15 million of the stolen funds.
The update follows Mercado Bitcoin's disclosure of a security breach on 2 November 2026, when attackers transferred funds from hot wallets and customer deposit addresses using standard transfers. Security firm Hypernative previously identified more than $40 million in suspicious transfers across at least 10 blockchains.
Addressing liquidity, Mercado Bitcoin said it has a strong cash position, supported by a $20 million investment from stablecoin issuer Tether to fund operational expansion. The exchange did not give a timeline for when full withdrawal functionality and trading will return.
Reported and edited by the YourKhabri desk under our editorial policy. Nothing here is investment advice.