Mercado Bitcoin Hack Update 2026: $49M Loss Traced Live

Mercado Bitcoin Hack Update 2026: What Happened to User Funds

The Mercado Bitcoin hack has cost Brazil’s largest crypto exchange between $38 million and $49 million, and the stolen money is still moving. The breach hit on November 2, 2026. The platform froze deposits, withdrawals and trading right away. 

Source: Wu Blockchain

This crypto hack news matters because the attacker is now cashing out, and a second exchange reported a similar incident.

Mercado Bitcoin Hack News: How Attackers Drained $49M Across Chains

On November 2, Mercado Bitcoin platform confirmed a major security breach after its hot wallets and thousands of customer deposit addresses were emptied. The attacker used ordinary signed transactions, not a smart contract bug. That points to stolen operational signing access, which is a custody failure rather than a code flaw.

The exchange puts its own loss at about $38 million. On-chain trackers such as Arkham Intelligence and Chainalysis count closer to 46–49 million. The gap likely comes from how each side prices assets spread over 10 to 17 blockchains.

Key figures so far:

• Exchange estimate: about $38 million

• Tracker estimates: 46–49 million

• Frozen stablecoins: over $15 million, up from an earlier $11 million

• Freeze partners: Tether, Circle, Paxos and Chainalysis

Some BTC still sit in attacker wallets. Any sale would add supply to the BTC price picture.

Stolen Altcoins Swapped for ETH as Arkham Tracks Hacker Wallets Live

The attacker is turning a mixed bag of tokens into ETH, which is easier to move. An on-chain post by Crypto Patel citing Arkham data shows 31 altcoins sent to a single wallet and sold for roughly 163 ETH. Reported values range from $316,000 to $378,000, depending on the snapshot.

Source: Official Arkham Intelligence

Broader tracking shows more activity:

• Altcoins moved to new wallets: about $11.45 million

• VIRTUAL tokens sent on: about $1.1 million, sold in roughly $20,000 batches

• VIRTUAL still held: about $1 million

• Total swapped into ETH: roughly 10.5–11.9 million over several days

Dumping so many small tokens can weigh on their markets. Bitcoin hack news like this often shows how thin altcoin liquidity can be.

BitMart Hack Raises Questions About a Shared Threat Actor Behind Both

BitMart founder Sheldon Xia confirmed a minor breach on his own platform. Early findings suggest a possible BitMart Mercado Bitcoin hackers link, though that is not proven. 

Xia also admitted the security team was understaffed after internal restructuring, and users report funds stuck during the platform’s wind-down.

The Mercado Bitcoin hack and BitMart breach news comes just days after the largest crypto hack in history. The Binance Hack on October 29, 2026 resulted in the theft of  about $6.3 billion. The thief also swapped $325 million in stablecoins for ETH to outrun freezes, the same ETH-swap move seen in Brazil.

The FBI blamed a North Korea-linked group, which Pyongyang denies. Binance said the attackers used a fake job interview and malware. About $2.8 billion was frozen by November 3. 

No evidence ties the two cases together. Still, market data shows how fast fear spreads. 

Mercado Bitcoin Hack User Funds: Phased Reopening and Full Coverage

The exchange has said that customers will not lose assets and that company funds will cover every affected amount. No customer data leak has been reported. This Mercado Bitcoin hack update also brings the first sign of recovery.

• November 9: view-only access to balances, statements and holdings

• Still suspended: transfers, withdrawals and trading

• Restart condition: independent security checks on each module

• Next step: market buybacks funded by the exchange

Two exchange breaches in one week, plus a record heist days earlier, make custody the core issue of the Bitcoin hack 2026 stories. Frozen stablecoins can be returned. ETH that has already moved is far harder to recover. The audit results in Brazil and any proof from BitMart will show whether one crew or several is behind these attacks. 

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Crypto markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.