Mercado Bitcoin Halts Services After $40 Million in Suspicious Crypto Transfers Flagged
Brazilian crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin suspended services following a security incident, with researchers flagging over $40 million in suspicious transfers across multiple blockchains.
Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin suspended deposits and withdrawals on November 2, 2026, after detecting a security incident within one of its systems. The incident prompted immediate action from the exchange to protect its users and assets.
Blockchain security firm Hypernative flagged more than $40 million in suspicious transfers across at least 10 different blockchains, raising concerns about the potential scale of the breach. However, Mercado Bitcoin has not yet confirmed this figure as its definitive loss, stating that the incident was contained early Monday morning.
The exchange assured its customers that they suffered no harm and no data was leaked. The service suspension is a precautionary measure while internal teams investigate the incident, trace the affected assets, and collaborate with law enforcement authorities.
According to preliminary reports, the suspicious activity involved transfers from wallets linked to Mercado Bitcoin into new, unknown addresses. The affected networks reportedly include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Tron, Polygon, Arbitrum, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Stellar, among others. Most of the outflows were observed within a concentrated 34-minute window between 06:19 and 06:53 UTC.
Researchers noted that the observed movements appeared to be ordinary transactions rather than exploits of smart contracts, which shifts the focus to how the attacker obtained the necessary signing access. The exact method of compromise and the specific internal system affected remain undisclosed.
This incident echoes previous breaches in the cryptocurrency exchange sector, such as the Bitget hot wallet hack, which also involved unauthorized transfers. However, no direct link or shared attack methodology has been established between these events.
Mercado Bitcoin has published destination addresses for affected networks to aid in tracking the funds on public blockchains, a tactic also employed in past investigations like the Bitfinex hack. The exchange has not yet provided a timeline for service restoration or identified the compromised system.
The ongoing investigation aims to reconcile the researcher-estimated suspicious wallet movements with confirmed losses, while the exchange maintains that customer assets were not compromised. The situation highlights the persistent security challenges faced by cryptocurrency exchanges in safeguarding digital assets.