Mercado Bitcoin suspends deposits and withdrawals after security incident
In brief
- Mercado Bitcoin temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals after a security incident, the exchange said Monday.
- Hypernative flagged multi-chain outflows from wallets linked to the exchange, Crypto Briefing reported.
- Mercado Bitcoin says it contained the issue, with no customer losses or data breach.
- Mercado Bitcoin, founded in 2013, has more than 4.8 million clients and $20 million from Tether.
What Mercado Bitcoin said
Mercado Bitcoin disclosed the incident in a Portuguese-language post on X dated November 2, 2026. In it, the exchange said it had identified and contained a security incident in one of its systems overnight, and deposits and withdrawals were put on a temporary hold.
"Identificamos e contivemos com rapidez um incidente de segurança em um de nossos sistemas nesta madrugada."
In English, that's roughly: "We quickly identified and contained a security incident in one of our systems overnight." The company also said its teams are investigating the case, tracking the assets and working with the relevant authorities.
It said customers didn't lose money. It also said no data was breached.
Those are Mercado Bitcoin's own claims.
Hypernative flagged outflows
Blockchain security firm Hypernative flagged multi-chain outflows from wallets linked to Mercado Bitcoin, according to Crypto Briefing, which reported that the exchange confirmed the security incident as that flag surfaced. It's the outside data point in this story so far (the rest comes from the company itself).
Mercado Bitcoin's position, set against Hypernative's flag, is that the issue was contained quickly and that customers weren't hurt. The exchange's reference to tracking the assets sits alongside that position, and its teams are working with authorities on the case.
Who Mercado Bitcoin is
Founded in São Paulo in 2013, Mercado Bitcoin has grown into one of Brazil's largest digital asset platforms, with more than 4.8 million clients. That's a lot of people locked out of deposits and withdrawals, even temporarily.
The exchange also has recent backing. Tether invested $20 million in the company through a strategic growth financing round announced in July, Crypto Briefing reported. That money was expected to accelerate Mercado Bitcoin's development of payments infrastructure, tokenized investment products, lending and credit services, and on-chain capital markets, among other areas.
Frequently asked questions
Did Mercado Bitcoin customers lose money in the security incident?
Mercado Bitcoin said the incident caused no customer losses and no data breach. That's the company's own claim. Separately, blockchain security firm Hypernative flagged multi-chain outflows from wallets linked to the exchange, according to Crypto Briefing.
What is Mercado Bitcoin doing after the incident?
Mercado Bitcoin temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals after detecting the incident. The exchange said its teams are investigating the case, tracking the assets and working with the relevant authorities.
