Originally reported by Cointelegraph on Nov. 10, 2026, at 02:25:29 UTC+8.
Mercado Bitcoin began restoring read-only account access in phases on Monday, a week after attackers drained an estimated $49 million from the Brazilian crypto exchange. Customers could check their recorded holdings, but the exchange had not announced when they would be able to withdraw funds.
A spokesperson told Cointelegraph that access would begin at 19:00 UTC, with all accounts expected to be viewable by 21:00 UTC. The balances shown would reflect holdings as they stood on Nov. 2, the day of the hack.
Viewing a balance is not the same as moving funds
In a video posted to the exchange’s X account, Fabricio Tota, vice president of new business, said the read-only reopening was intended to reassure customers that their assets remained recorded on the platform. He described the phased reactivation as “a more conservative approach” intended to ensure a secure return.
For customers, the recovery process still had two further steps:
- Confirm registration details: The next phase would require users to confirm their information before they could move funds.
- Withdraw through Pix: The exchange planned to restore withdrawals through Brazil’s instant payment system, initially limiting transfers to accounts in the customer’s own name.
Tota gave no date for either step. Restored account visibility therefore did not mean restored access to payments or withdrawals.
Exchange pledges to cover losses
Mercado Bitcoin said it was using its own funds to replace the stolen assets and that customers would not bear the losses. It pledged to cover all losses on Nov. 4, with company funds bolstered by a $20 million investment from stablecoin issuer Tether in July.
“The vast majority of assets, in fact, nearly all of them, were never even touched by anyone; they were not even involved in the incident,” Tota said. He also said a portion of the stolen funds had been frozen in the hours after the exchange announced the attack.
Blockchain analysts traced some stolen funds to customer deposit addresses. Security analysts raised concerns that attackers had gained access to addresses and drained funds through standard transfers, rather than exploiting a smart contract. Mercado Bitcoin had not explained how the attackers gained access to its wallets.
As of Nov. 4, blockchain data company Bitquery found that wallets it linked to the attacker still held most of the stolen funds that had escaped freezes, including 106.07 BTC.
Mercado Bitcoin, one of Brazil’s largest crypto exchanges, told Brazilian magazine Veja in late October that it had more than 4.8 million customers and had processed over 215 billion Brazilian reais ($39 billion) in cumulative transactions.