Mercado Bitcoin vows no customer losses after hack, but services stay frozen

Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin says customers won't eat the losses from a Nov. 2 security breach — even as its doors stay shut. In a statement translated from Portuguese, the company told users it

assures you that you will not suffer any loss of assets as a result of the security incident we identified today on our platform.

The pledge comes with fine print missing. Mercado Bitcoin didn't say where the money to cover losses would come from, set a deadline for reimbursements, or specify whether balances would be restored in crypto or Brazilian reais. Its services remain suspended, and the exchange says it has no exact date for reopening — access returns only once full security conditions are met, with timing to come through official channels.

Mercado Bitcoin pegged the

assets involved

at roughly $38 million and said about $11 million has already been blocked, with help from Tether, Circle, Paxos, BRL1 and Chainalysis. More assets that could be frozen have been identified, the exchange added, and containment work is ongoing. Blockchain sleuths at Chainalysis, which helped trace the funds, put the haul at about $49 million spread across 17 blockchains — a figure The Defiant reported earlier. Both numbers describe the same breach, not two separate losses, though the exchange hasn't clarified whether its $38 million total includes the blocked funds, leaving the net damage fuzzy.