Largest crypto exchange in Brazil confirms cyberattack as millions flow out of platform

Blockchain security companies reported more than $46 million leaving the platform late Sunday night, though Mercado Bitcoin did not confirm this figure. The company stated in social media messages that the cyberattack did not harm customers and did not lead to a data breach.

Mercado Bitcoin, which calls itself the largest digital assets investment platform in Latin America with about 4.5 million customers, shared destination addresses for the stolen funds and pledged to restore the platform in the coming days.

Security Response

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the platform froze about $4.5 million stolen from Mercado Bitcoin. Another $2 million worth of cryptocurrency has been frozen by other platforms.

Our teams are mobilized – investigating the case, tracking the assets, and coordinating measures with the competent authorities.

Blockchain security company Chainalysis noted its investigators are tracking the coins so the cryptocurrency industry can "identify, freeze, and disrupt impacted funds." However, several blockchain security experts disputed Mercado Bitcoin's assessment that customer funds were not accessed, showing blockchain evidence that hackers siphoned funds from some customer wallets.

Growing Threat

The attack on Mercado Bitcoin comes days after $6.3 billion was stolen from crypto platform Binance, with the FBI and U.S. Secret Service blaming hackers from North Korea. Multiple cryptocurrency exchanges have lost millions in cyberattacks over the last six months, with several incidents surpassing $100 million in losses.

Even Chainalysis, which partners with law enforcement and crypto industry officials on blockchain investigations, announced a cyber incident last week where hackers used AI-backed tools to gain unauthorized access to the company's systems and internal tools, stealing user IDs, names, email addresses and organization role labels.