Mercado Bitcoin plots a Pix-powered comeback after $49M hack, while crypto withdrawals stay on ice

Mercado Bitcoin will resume Brazilian real deposits and withdrawals through Pix next week following an attack that drained an estimated $49 million from wallets linked to the exchange, a company representative told Cointelegraph. Crypto deposits and withdrawals remain suspended, with no date set for their return, and customers will initially be able to withdraw only to accounts in their own name.

The exchange began restoring read-only account access on Monday, one week after the Nov. 2 attack. Customers could view their holdings as they stood on Nov. 2, with access scheduled to start at 19:00 UTC and all accounts expected to be viewable by 21:00 UTC. Before moving funds, users will need to confirm their registration details. Customers who regain access are directed to a page detailing the exchange’s security measures and regular audits since 2018, alongside a separate incident account.

Mercado Bitcoin will also credit customers’ accounts with proceeds from the settlement of fixed income products. Fabricio Tota, vice president of new business, said the company was taking “a more conservative approach” to reactivating accounts “to ensure our return happens with the utmost security.” The exchange has not published a rollout schedule on its website, and a representative said, “The resumption will proceed gradually, and the rollout of additional services will be communicated to clients in advance through MB’s official channels.”

One of Brazil’s largest crypto exchanges, Mercado Bitcoin told Brazilian magazine Veja in late October that it had more than 4.8 million customers and had processed over 215 billion Brazilian reais ($39 billion) in cumulative transactions. The exchange says it is using its own funds to replace the stolen assets and will cover all losses. That pledge, made on Nov. 4, followed a $20 million investment from stablecoin issuer Tether in July. Tota said, “The vast majority of assets, in fact, nearly all of them, were never even touched by anyone; they were not even involved in the incident.”

Blockchain security analysts said the attackers accessed addresses and drained funds through standard transfers rather than a smart contract exploit. Bitquery found that, as of Nov. 4, wallets linked to the attacker held most of the stolen funds that had escaped freezes, including 106.07 BTC. Mercado Bitcoin has yet to explain how the attackers gained access to its wallets, while Tota said some stolen funds were frozen shortly after the company announced the attack.

The Nov. 2 incident came four days after hackers stole about $6.3 billion in crypto from Binance’s hot wallets in a separate breach. The FBI attributed the Binance theft to North Korean hackers, and Binance said it would cover the losses using its emergency fund and corporate treasury.