- Mercado Bitcoin reopened account access on November 9, a week after a $48.6 million hack, but only for viewing balances, not for trading, withdrawals, or deposits.
- The Brazilian exchange, which serves millions of users, says it will replace the stolen crypto with its own funds and is already buying coins to rebuild reserves.
- Roughly $33 million remains with the attacker, and full services will return only in later stages, requiring customer re-verification.
Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil’s largest crypto exchange, began letting customers back into their accounts on Monday, seven days after a breach drained $48.6 million from its wallets.
Users will still be unable to trade, withdraw or deposit but they can view their balances while waiting for trading to resume.
Has Mercado Bitcoin resumed operations?
Mercado Bitcoin confirmed on X that it will restart its operations phase by phase following a breach that drained $48.6 million from its wallets.
The phased restart was also announced in an updated help-center FAQ. It will start with web logins open from 16:00 local time and reach all Mercado Bitcoin customers by 18:00.
Even though logins will be permitted, account holders can only check their total balance, net worth, and investments, which will be broken down by category and by asset.
API access is set to return later, as well as everything that involves moving money including trading, crypto and Brazilian real withdrawals, deposits, transfers, the MB card, Pix and TED payments. New account signups will also remain offline for now.
The exchange said each phase is being cleared through security checks before it comes back, and that it chose to start with balance viewing while the rest is validated.
The FAQ explains that when withdrawals do return, Pix withdrawals will initially be limited to accounts under the customer’s own name and CPF tax ID. Every user will have to revalidate their registration details and set a new password through the app before touching their balance.
The balances that will be displayed on the website will show each account’s position on November 2, the day of the attack, before the breach.
How will Mercado Bitcoin replace the stolen crypto?
Mercado Bitcoin says customers won’t lose any funds. The exchange plans to cover all the missing coins using its own money. In a video posted on November 5, Fabrício Tota, the vice president of new business, said the company is already buying crypto through partners in Brazil and abroad to rebuild its reserves.
The company is relying on the roughly $300 million it has raised since it was founded to fund the repurchases. The $300 million balance includes a $20 million investment from Tether in July.
More than 33% of the stolen funds have reportedly been frozen, but the portion not yet recovered amounts to about 3% of Mercado Bitcoin’s total custody. Tota guessed that the hacker still had roughly $33 million in their possession.
Bitquery traced $48.6 million leaving Mercado Bitcoin across 11 blockchains on November 2. It said that the attacker could sign for customer deposit addresses and emptied 36,042 of them on Ethereum. The attack also continued for about four hours after Mercado Bitcoin said it had been contained. Stablecoin issuers, led by Tether, Circle and Paxos, froze about $11.8 million of the loot.
This hack followed closely behind a huge $6.3 billion theft from Binance on October 29. BitMart was also hit that same day, though for less money. Its founder, Sheldon Xia, says one group is responsible for all of these attacks.
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.
FAQs
How much was stolen from Mercado Bitcoin?
Bitquery traced $48.6 million taken across 11 blockchains on November 2, more than the roughly $40 million first reported. Stablecoin issuers including Tether, Circle and Paxos froze about $11.8 million.
Can Mercado Bitcoin customers withdraw funds now?
No. The first reopening stage, which began November 9, only lets users view their total balance and investments on the website; trading, withdrawals, deposits, transfers, Pix, TED and the MB card remain disabled until later stages.
Will customers lose money from the hack?
Mercado Bitcoin says no customer will lose assets and that it will restore the missing coins using its own funds, drawing on more than $300 million raised since its founding, including a $20 million Tether investment in July.
Disclaimer. The information provided is not trading advice. Cryptopolitan.com holds no liability for any investments made based on the information provided on this page. We strongly recommend independent research and/or consultation with a qualified professional before making any investment decisions.
Hannah Collymore
Hannah is a writer and editor with nearly a decade of blog writing and event reporting experience in the crypto space. At Cryptopolitan, Hannah contributes to the news page, reporting and analyzing the latest developments in DeFi, RWA, crypto regulation, AI and frontier tech industries. She graduated from Arcadia university with a degree in Business Administration.
