Mercado Bitcoin

Summary

Mercado Bitcoin suspended deposits and withdrawals after a cybersecurity incident in which blockchain security companies reported more than $46 million left the platform, though the company did not confirm the figure. The exchange stated the attack did not harm customers or cause a data breach, but blockchain security experts disputed that assessment, citing evidence that hackers siphoned funds from some customer wallets. Tether froze about $4.5 million of the stolen funds, and other platforms froze another $2 million, while Chainalysis investigators tracked the coins to help the industry identify, freeze, and disrupt impacted funds. The platform, which calls itself the largest digital assets investment platform in Latin America with about 4.5 million customers, pledged to restore services in the coming days and coordinated with authorities.

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Description

Brazilian cryptocurrency platform Mercado Bitcoin suspended all deposits and withdrawals after a cybersecurity incident on Monday morning. Blockchain security companies reported that more than $46 million left the platform late on Sunday night, but Mercado Bitcoin did not confirm the figure in its statements and did not respond to requests for comment. The company, which calls itself the largest digital assets investment platform in Latin America with about 4.5 million customers, said the cyberattack did not harm customers and did not lead to a data breach. Mercado Bitcoin stated that its teams were mobilized to investigate the case, track the assets, and coordinate measures with the competent authorities. The platform shared destination addresses for the stolen funds and pledged to restore the platform in the coming days. Several blockchain security experts disputed Mercado Bitcoin's assessment that customer funds were not accessed, showing blockchain evidence that the hackers were able to siphon funds from some customer wallets. The attack occurred days after $6.3 billion was stolen from crypto platform Binance, an incident the FBI and U.S. Secret Service blamed on hackers from North Korea that have siphoned billions from crypto platforms this year. Multiple cryptocurrency exchanges have lost millions in cyberattacks over the last six months, with several incidents surpassing $100 million in losses.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the platform froze about $4.5 million stolen from Mercado Bitcoin, and another $2 million worth of cryptocurrency has been frozen by other platforms. Blockchain security company Chainalysis noted its investigators are tracking the coins so the cryptocurrency industry can identify, freeze, and disrupt impacted funds. The company pledged to restore the platform in the coming days. The suspension of deposits and withdrawals affected all platform users while the investigation was underway. Coordination with competent authorities was included in the company's described response to the cyberattack.

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