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

Brazilian cryptocurrency platform Mercado Bitcoin suspended all deposits and withdrawals after a cybersecurity incident on Monday morning.

Blockchain security companies said 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. 

In messages on social media, Mercado Bitcoin said the cyberattack did not harm customers and did not lead to a data breach. 

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

Mercado Bitcoin shared destination addresses for the stolen funds and pledged to restore the platform in the coming days. 

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.

Blockchain security company Chainalysis noted its investigators are tracking the coins so the cryptocurrency industry can “identify, freeze, and disrupt impacted funds.” 

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. 

Mercado Bitcoin calls itself the largest digital assets investment platform in Latin America with about 4.5 million customers. 

The attack on the company comes days after $6.3 billion was stolen from crypto platform Binance. The FBI and U.S. Secret Service blamed the incident 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. 

Even Chainalysis — which partners with law enforcement and crypto industry officials on blockchain investigations — announced a cyber incident last week where hackers used artificial intelligence-backed tools to gain unauthorized access to the company’s systems and internal tools.

The hackers stole user IDs, names, email addresses and organization role labels for users provisioned on the platform.