Overview
- Mercado Bitcoin reported an unauthorized access on Monday, Nov. 2, said the incident was contained, paused deposits and withdrawals, and said customer data and funds were not directly harmed.
- On Tuesday, Nov. 3, blockchain trackers flagged about $8 million in Ethereum moved to new addresses, including a transfer of roughly 2,900 ETH, as investigators followed the flows in real time.
- Chainalysis contacted law enforcement and coordinated with token issuers, and Tether froze more than $9 million tied to the incident as part of a rapid, multi-party response.
- Analytics firms estimate the attacker still controls roughly $46 million in crypto across ten blockchains, holding multiple altcoins each worth over $1 million and creating risk of forced sales or further obfuscation.
- The breach follows a large Oct. 29 exchange hack and underscores recurring custody risks for centralized platforms, leaving recovery dependent on continued issuer cooperation, law enforcement action, and on-chain tracing.