Mercado Bitcoin confirms cyberattack with estimated $40M in losses across 10 blockchains.
Security & Exploits ·
Mercado Bitcoin has confirmed a cyberattack resulting in an estimated $40 million in losses distributed across 10 blockchains, according to Hypernative analysis. The Brazilian exchange disclosed the breach after the incident came to light, marking a significant security failure affecting customer assets.
The attack targeted the platform's infrastructure across multiple chains simultaneously, suggesting either a coordinated breach or a vulnerability that exposed assets stored on numerous networks. The hacker's addresses, which have been tagged on the blockchain analytics platform Arkham, continue to hold approximately $46.5 million in stolen cryptocurrency, indicating that only a portion of the total theft has been recovered or frozen.
Mercado Bitcoin has stated it will absorb the $40 million loss rather than pass costs to users. The extent of any recovery efforts, whether additional funds will be frozen, or which specific chains and wallet types were compromised remain unclear. The investigation into how the attacker gained access and whether other exchanges or platforms share similar vulnerabilities is still ongoing.