UPDATE: Firms freeze over $10M as Mercado Bitcoin breach hits up to $49M
CIE News ·
Update to UPDATE: Tether freezes 4.5M USDT after $46.3M Mercado Bitcoin exploit
Based on on-chain data and security researchers' analysis; not yet confirmed by the affected parties.
Following Mercado Bitcoin's exploit, issuers froze over $10M in stablecoins as the scope expanded to 27,160 swept addresses and up to $49 million stolen across 17 chains.
Crypto issuers and custodians have frozen over $10 million in stablecoins following a security breach at Mercado Bitcoin, which drained an estimated $46 million to $49 million. As previously reported, the Brazilian crypto exchange halted deposits and withdrawals on November 2, 2026, after initial reports of an exploit targeting its infrastructure.
According to blockchain analysis reported by chainalysis.com, Tether, Circle, Paxos, Anchorage Digital, and Ripple intervened to freeze assets following alerts. The scope of the attack widened to between 10 and 17 blockchains, including Base, Tron, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Arbitrum, and Polygon. Tradingview.com reported that attackers compromised main hot wallets and swept Ether out of 27,160 customer deposit addresses into a central wallet through direct transfers rather than a smart contract exploit.
Mercado Bitcoin stated that internal user data remains uncompromised and clients will suffer no financial loss from the incident.
Key facts
- $46M to $49M stolen
- Over $10M frozen
- 27,160 deposit addresses swept
- Deposits and withdrawals paused
Read the original at chainalysis.com