Mercado Bitcoin Reopens Monday for Viewing Only After $49M Hack

Mercado Bitcoin is switching the lights back on — partially. The Brazilian exchange said it will restore website access on Monday, Nov. 9, giving customers view-only permissions after the Nov. 2 hack that knocked its systems offline. Balances, statements, holdings and investments will all be visible, but withdrawals, transfers and trading stay suspended, and deposits aren't coming back yet either.

Everything else returns only as each piece of the platform clears final security checks, and the exchange didn't put a date on any of it. It explained the piecemeal approach by pointing out that custody, deposits, trading and balance management run as one integrated system, so each environment and transaction flow gets independently tested before it goes live again.

The money question is where things get interesting. Mercado Bitcoin says customer balances are still on the books and vows that affected assets will be replaced using company funds, with a trading desk ready to buy back assets in domestic and international markets. In a separate reply, it confirmed those replacements will come in assets rather than cash, and it told customers plainly: no customer will lose their assets.

Investigators have a number for the damage. Chainalysis estimated the Nov. 2 attack drained roughly $49 million across 17 blockchains, and the firm says it helped trace the funds and coordinate freezes with law enforcement and stablecoin issuers. Mercado Bitcoin's Wednesday update credits industry partners with blocking more than $15 million of that, keeping the attacker from moving or cashing out those assets while the exchange keeps pushing for their return.

Blocked isn't the same as recovered, though. The update didn't hand over a final net-loss figure, and it set no deadline for finishing the repurchases — so the size of the hole Mercado Bitcoin is filling with its own cash remains an open question. The exchange says each new reopening phase will get announced through its official channels.

For now, customers get eyes on their balances and little else. The next milestone is the security clearance that unlocks trading, withdrawals and deposits — the moment the exchange actually has to make good on its promise.