Security
Mercado Bitcoin suspends deposits and withdrawals after a security incident, with trackers reporting more than $46 million out and the exchange confirming no amount
Mercado Bitcoin suspended deposits and withdrawals after a security incident. Trackers say over $46M left; the company confirms no amount.
On November 2, 2026, Mercado Bitcoin said it had contained a security incident in one of its systems and temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals as a precaution. Blockchain trackers say more than $46 million left the platform; the company has confirmed no amount. It says clients were not affected, which several security experts dispute. Data as of November 3, 2026.
The essentials
- The company: incident contained in one system, deposits and withdrawals suspended. No amount confirmed.
- The trackers: more than $46 million out per blockchain security firms and Arkham (about $46.3 million). Unconfirmed by the company.
- The freeze: Tether's CEO, Paolo Ardoino, confirmed that Tether froze more than 4.5 million USDT tied to the incident.
- The dispute: the company says no client was affected; experts contest this.
The incident comes days after the theft covered in Binance hit by the largest crypto hack on record. The Block and FinanceFeeds do not link the two cases, and no source we read establishes a link or a common author.
What does Mercado Bitcoin say?
According to its posts on X, as reported by The Block and The Record, the company suspended deposits and withdrawals while it investigates, tracks the assets and coordinates with the competent authorities. It says no client was affected and no data leaked, and it published the destination addresses of the funds (per FinanceFeeds, on Ethereum-compatible networks, Bitcoin, Solana, Stellar and Tron) to help tracing. It confirmed no amount and promised to restore the platform in the coming days (The Record), without a precise schedule. It describes itself as Latin America's largest digital asset investment platform, with about 4.5 million clients (its own claim).
Source: The Block, The Record, FinanceFeeds.
What do the trackers say?
Blockchain security firms put the outflow at more than $46 million (The Record) and Arkham at about $46.3 million (The Block). FinanceFeeds says Hypernative first flagged more than $40 million of suspicious transfers on at least 10 networks. These are successive estimates from different sources, not figures to add up. The total and the assets lost are not established.
The Record says funds left late Sunday night, the company says Monday morning; the gap is unexplained and we do not settle it. FinanceFeeds says funds kept moving for hours after the announcement.
Tether's CEO confirmed the freeze of more than 4.5 million USDT (The Block, The Record). The Record adds that other platforms reportedly froze about $2 million more, unconfirmed. Chainalysis says it is tracking the funds. An Arkham analyst says the attacker swept old deposit addresses and sold memecoins and altcoins (The Block).
Are clients affected?
The company says no, and that no data leaked. According to The Record, several blockchain security experts dispute this, pointing to on-chain evidence of funds siphoned from client wallets. It is a disagreement, not an established fact, and we cannot verify either side.
What is not established?
Source: The Block, The Record, FinanceFeeds.
Also open: which authorities were notified (the company says only "competent authorities"), whether trading is open, and what becomes of the frozen funds. Causes put forward by third parties are hypotheses.
Comparison table
| Point | What the sources say | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Incident | Contained in one system; deposits and withdrawals suspended | Mercado Bitcoin posts on X, via The Block and The Record |
| Amount | More than $46 million out per trackers; not confirmed by the company | The Record, The Block, FinanceFeeds |
| Freeze | More than 4.5 million USDT frozen, confirmed by Tether's CEO | The Block, The Record |
| Clients | The company says none affected; experts dispute it | Mercado Bitcoin, via The Record |
| Cause, attackers | Not established | n/a |
Frequently asked questions
How much was stolen?
Trackers say more than $46 million left the platform. The company has confirmed no amount; these are estimates, not a verified total.
Are my funds safe?
The company says clients were not affected; several experts dispute this. We cannot verify either claim, and this is not advice on your funds.
When will withdrawals resume?
The company promised to restore the platform in the coming days, with no precise schedule.
Method and limits
We read The Block, The Record and FinanceFeeds through automatic summaries; CryptoSlate returned a 403 error and was not read. The company's posts on X reach us only through The Block and The Record. Amounts are unverified third-party estimates. We tested nothing. This is not investment advice or financial advice.
Sources
- The Block, read via an automatic summary
- The Record, read via an automatic summary
- FinanceFeeds, read via an automatic summary
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