Quick answer: The Mercado Bitcoin hack on Nov. 2, 2026, moved more than $40 million out of wallets tied to Brazil’s largest crypto exchange across at least 10 blockchains, per Hypernative. The exchange paused deposits and withdrawals, said clients lost nothing, and Tether froze over 4.5 million USDT.
The Mercado Bitcoin hack hit Brazil’s largest crypto exchange early on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. More than $40 million left its wallets across at least 10 blockchains, and the exchange has paused all deposits and withdrawals.
Mercado Bitcoin says no client lost money and no data leaked. Still, it has not said when service will return.
What happened in the Mercado Bitcoin hack
The exchange posted a short statement on X at 12:56 UTC, Unchained reported. It said it had “identified and quickly contained a security incident in one of our systems early this morning,” per Decrypt. Deposits and withdrawals were then suspended as a precaution.
Security firm Hypernative flagged the outflows first. In an alert shared by Opsek founder Pablo Sabbatella, it said most of the money moved in a 34-minute window, from 06:19 to 06:53 UTC. Sweeps of the exchange’s bitcoin deposit addresses had begun earlier, at 02:15 UTC, Unchained reported.
Crucially, Hypernative called the outflows “plain transfers, not a smart contract exploit,” per CoinDesk. In other words, someone had the keys, or access to the system that signs with them. How they got that access is still unknown.
About 90 minutes after its first post, Mercado Bitcoin published the destination addresses on EVM chains, Bitcoin, Solana, Stellar and Tron. It said it shared them only so others can track the funds.
How much money moved
So far, the figures come from outside trackers, not from the exchange:
- Hypernative: more than $40 million across at least 10 chains, including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, Tron, Polygon, Arbitrum, Avalanche, BNB Chain and Stellar.
- Arkham: about $46 million held across 36 grouped addresses, The Defiant reported.
- Tether: CEO Paolo Ardoino said the issuer froze more than 4.5 million USDT tied to the incident, according to Decrypt and crypto.news.
Mercado Bitcoin has not confirmed any of these numbers. It has also not called the event a hack.
We priced the five holdings Hypernative named at CoinGecko rates at 17:55 UTC. Together, 106 BTC, 2,852 ETH, 6.7 million XLM, 10,700 SOL and 77,000 AVAX come to about $17.3 million. That is less than half of the $40 million estimate. So most of the value likely sits in the more than 200 other tokens the attacker received. That matters, because tokens such as USDT can be frozen by their issuers, while BTC and ETH cannot.
Why it matters
First, the timing is rough. The Mercado Bitcoin hack lands just four days after North Korean hackers drained about $6.3 billion from Binance, as covered in our Binance hack report. However, neither the exchange nor Hypernative has linked the two events. CoinDesk also said there is no public evidence of a link.
Second, the pattern looks familiar. Plain transfers from hot wallets point to stolen keys or a hijacked signing system, not buggy code. We saw a similar story this morning with the BTCPay Server hot wallet attack. In both cases, the weak point was operational security, not the blockchain.
Third, trust is now the real test. Binance users pulled a net $3.64 billion once withdrawals reopened, as our Binance outflows report shows. Mercado Bitcoin’s clients may react the same way once they can move funds. For this reason, a clear reopening plan matters more than the loss figure.
Market context
The wider market barely moved on the news. At 17:55 UTC on Nov. 2, 2026, bitcoin traded at $76,871, down 1.4% over 24 hours, per CoinGecko. Ether stood at $2,248.43 and solana at $91.78.
Meanwhile, the stolen bitcoin has not moved yet. The named BTC address had received about 106.07 BTC in seven transfers, and none had left it at 14:58 UTC, Unchained reported.
What to watch next
- A reopening date: Mercado Bitcoin said it will post updates on X. Watch for a timeline and any proof that balances are fully backed.
- A root cause: The key question is how the attacker got signing access. A key leak, an insider or a compromised system would each mean different fixes.
- More freezes: Watch whether Tether, Circle or other issuers freeze more tokens, and whether exchanges block deposits from the flagged addresses.
- Attribution: Any link to known groups would change how the market reads this week’s string of attacks.
FAQ about the Mercado Bitcoin hack
Did Mercado Bitcoin customers lose money?
The exchange says no. In its statement on X, Mercado Bitcoin said there was no loss to clients and no data leak. It has not said whose funds left the wallets.
How much was taken in the Mercado Bitcoin hack?
Hypernative estimates more than $40 million across at least 10 blockchains, and Arkham tracks about $46 million in 36 addresses. Mercado Bitcoin has not confirmed a figure.
When will Mercado Bitcoin withdrawals resume?
There is no date yet. As of Nov. 2, 2026, deposits and withdrawals remained paused, and the exchange said it is working to restore service safely.
Sources
- CoinDesk: Mercado Bitcoin hit by $40 million hack across 10 blockchains
- Decrypt: Mercado Bitcoin halts withdrawals after $40 million hack
- Unchained: Mercado Bitcoin halts withdrawals as Hypernative flags $40 million drain
- The Defiant: Arkham says Mercado Bitcoin attacker holds $46 million
- crypto.news: Tether freezes $4.5m USDT after Mercado Bitcoin breach
- G1: Mercado Bitcoin sofre ataque dias após roubo bilionário na Binance
- CoinGecko price data
This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Do your own research before making any investment decision.
