Mercado Bitcoin, a Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange, remained offline more than 24 hours after a hacker attack drained over US$36.3 million. The company said customer assets are guaranteed and will not be affected. It also said it blocked US$12.9 million of the compromised funds.
Incident response
The incident hit only hot wallets, which hold a small share of assets for daily deposits and withdrawals. Mercado Bitcoin paused its platform as a protective measure. The company also notified the relevant authorities.
Recovery effort
The exchange is working with Tether, Circle, BRL1, Paxos, and Chainalysis. It said additional funds have been identified for possible freezing. Chainalysis estimated the total drained at US$49 million, higher than the company's figure.
Platform status
Access to the app remains unavailable. The exchange said users do not need to reinstall the app or replace their devices. It plans to restore services gradually after security checks.
Mercado Bitcoin is tracing and freezing assets across multiple fronts. It is coordinating with protocols and global exchanges to block linked funds. The company will communicate each restoration step before it becomes available.