Protocols & Policy · Security
Mercado Bitcoin pauses deposits and withdrawals after security incident
The Brazilian exchange says no customer lost funds. Le Coin estimates the native coins and major stablecoins at the addresses it published at about $13.9 million, at CoinGecko prices as of 10:23 a.m. ET.
Mercado Bitcoin pauses deposits and withdrawals after security incident
Customers of Mercado Bitcoin, a Brazilian crypto exchange, cannot move money in or out for now: the exchange has frozen deposits and withdrawals. Mercado Bitcoin said on Monday that it had found and contained a security incident in one of its systems overnight, and that it had suspended money moving in and out as a precaution [1].
"Identificamos e contivemos com rapidez um incidente de segurança em um de nossos sistemas nesta madrugada," the exchange said in a post on X at 7:56 a.m. ET. (Le Coin's translation: "We quickly identified and contained a security incident in one of our systems early this morning.") [1]
What Mercado Bitcoin said
The same post makes two assurances. "Não houve nenhum prejuízo aos clientes; Não houve vazamento de dados." (Le Coin's translation: "There was no loss to customers; there was no data leak.") [1]
It describes the pause in its own terms: "Como medida preventiva de proteção, depósitos e saques estão temporariamente suspensos." (Le Coin's translation: "As a preventive protective measure, deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended.") The exchange said its teams were "investigando o caso, rastreando os ativos e coordenando as medidas junto às autoridades competentes" (Le Coin's translation: "investigating the case, tracing the assets and coordinating measures with the competent authorities") [1].
At 9:24 a.m. ET, in a reply to its own post, it added: "Seguimos trabalhando para restabelecer as operações com segurança" (Le Coin's translation: "We are still working to restore operations safely") [2]. Mercado Bitcoin has not given a time for reopening.
The mechanism
The second post published where the moved assets went. "Compartilhamos os endereços de destino identificados nas movimentações relacionadas ao incidente," it said (Le Coin's translation: "We are sharing the destination addresses identified in the movements related to the incident") [2]. A destination address is a public account on a blockchain; anyone can look up what it holds, and other exchanges can watch it for deposits.
It listed five, one each on Ethereum and other networks that use the same address format ("EVM"), Bitcoin, Solana, Stellar and TRON, and said they were shared "exclusivamente para fins de identificação e rastreamento" (Le Coin's translation: "solely for identification and tracing") [2].
The evidence
Le Coin read each address on public block explorers at 10:22 a.m. ET and priced the holdings with CoinGecko [3][4]. The Stellar address, as Mercado Bitcoin posted it, does not resolve: Stellar's public server rejected it as an invalid account ID [3]. The other four do.
This is Le Coin's estimate of what sits at the addresses Mercado Bitcoin published. It is not Mercado Bitcoin's number and not the amount taken; those addresses can also receive unrelated transfers, and Stellar is not counted because the address as posted does not resolve.
Figure 1. Native coins and major stablecoins at the addresses Mercado Bitcoin published
| Chain | Address | Native coin | Native value (USD) | Major stablecoins (USD) | Le Coin estimate (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | 0xe485…2478 | 93.61 ETH | $214,246 | $3,475,731 | $3.69M |
| Bitcoin | 19qG…DZp | 106.07 BTC | $8,255,999 | — | $8.26M |
| Solana | 3YX6…W97J | 4.37 SOL | $412 | $1,283,261 | $1.28M |
| TRON | TEX3…yA5L | 35.6 TRX | $11 | $707,430 | $0.71M |
| Stellar | as posted, does not resolve | — | — | — | — |
| Total, 4 of 5 addresses | $8,470,669 | $5,466,422 | ≈ $13.9M |
Le Coin's estimate of native coins and major stablecoins (USDT, USDC, Circle's EURC and smaller dollar tokens) at the addresses MB published as of 10:23 a.m. ET Nov. 2, 2026, covering 4 of 5 addresses. Other tokens are not included. Balances: mempool.space, Blockscout, Solana RPC, TronGrid, read 10:22 a.m. ET. Prices: Powered by CoinGecko API (BTC $77,837; ETH $2,288.77; SOL $94.27; USDT $0.9989), as of 10:23 a.m. ET.
About $5.0 million of that is Tether's USDT dollar token, spread across the Ethereum, Solana and TRON addresses. The Bitcoin address has received seven transfers and sent none [3]. The Ethereum and Solana addresses also hold 217 other tokens, 185 and 32 respectively, led by Pendle, Virtual Protocol, Uniswap and Ethena. Those are priced on CoinGecko screens, which isn't a sale value, so Le Coin leaves them out of the estimate; six more Ethereum tokens have no CoinGecko price at all [3][4].
The objection
Mercado Bitcoin's statement is that customers lost nothing, and a balance at these addresses does not contradict it: the posts do not say whose assets moved. An address balance also measures only what is there at the time of reading. Anything already forwarded elsewhere is not in it, and a dollar value for thinly traded tokens is a price on a screen, not a sale.
The tell (Le Coin's view)
Le Coin's view: Publishing destination addresses on the same morning is the useful part of this disclosure. It gives other exchanges and stablecoin issuers a list to watch. The next Mercado Bitcoin update should say whether deposits and withdrawals have restarted and should correct the Stellar address.
Stop
Mercado Bitcoin says it contained a security incident in one of its systems overnight, that no customer lost funds and no data leaked, and that deposits and withdrawals are paused as a precaution. Le Coin estimates the native coins and major stablecoins at the addresses it published at about $13.9 million as of 10:23 a.m. ET, covering 4 of 5 addresses.
Sources
- Mercado Bitcoin (@MercadoBitcoin), post on X, Nov. 2, 2026, 7:56 a.m. ET, accessed 10:21 a.m. ET. https://x.com/MercadoBitcoin/status/2117239507263132056
- Mercado Bitcoin (@MercadoBitcoin), post on X, Nov. 2, 2026, 9:24 a.m. ET, accessed 10:21 a.m. ET. https://x.com/MercadoBitcoin/status/2117261565200146525
- Public block explorers, read 10:22 a.m. ET Nov. 2, 2026: mempool.space, Blockscout (Ethereum), Solana mainnet RPC, TronGrid, Stellar Horizon.
- Powered by CoinGecko API, prices as of 10:23 a.m. ET Nov. 2, 2026, accessed 10:23 a.m. ET. https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/simple/price?ids=bitcoin,ethereum,solana,tron,tether&vs_currencies=usd
Holding the Corner.
Not financial advice.