Mercado Bitcoin restored clients' access to their accounts on a view-only basis. The dashboards were opened on November 9. The balance is visible on the screen, but the money cannot be withdrawn.
Mercado Bitcoin is one of Brazil's largest crypto exchanges, with more than 4.8 million clients. Read-only mode means the account works only as a showcase: no withdrawals, no transfers, no trades.
The exchange did not name a timeline for unblocking withdrawals. While the withdrawal button is closed, clients' money sits on the platform without moving.
How was access opened?
Accounts were enabled in waves. The first dashboards went live from 22:00 Moscow time, and by 00:00 Moscow time access was supposed to appear for everyone.
- November 2 - the date for which balances are shown; this is the day of the attack
- about $49 million - the estimated damage from the hack
When will withdrawals be allowed?
The restoration is split into three stages.
- Viewing. The client sees the account and balance; transactions are unavailable.
- Data verification. Funds will not be allowed to move without verification of registration data.
- Withdrawals via Pix. Initially only to an account in the same name. Pix is a Brazilian instant payment system.
There are no dates for the second and third stages. The exchange did not say when they will begin.
What is known about the hack?
The exchange still has not explained how the attackers gained access to the wallets. Only the traces of the money are known.
- 106.07 BTC - part of the funds at addresses linked to the hacker; according to Bitquery, as of November 4 most of what had not been frozen was held there
- part of the money was blocked in the first hours after the attack
- part of the stolen funds passed through clients' deposit addresses
- there was no smart contract - the funds were taken via ordinary transfers
Fabricio Tota, the exchange's vice president for new business, in a video on its X page called this a "more conservative approach" to enabling accounts and said that almost all assets had "not even been touched by anyone."
What does this mean for a trader?
Clients will not have to be compensated for losses. On November 4 the exchange promised to cover them with its own money.
- $20 million - Tether's investment in the exchange in July
- 215 billion reais (about $39 billion) - the platform's cumulative turnover
Until a withdrawal date is announced, this entire balance is dead for trading. We break down how trading on someone else's capital works in the academy.
You see the balance, but you can't touch it
A week without withdrawals is a week without trading. The market moves, but the deposit is locked on someone else's server. The more money was held on a single platform, the more expensive such a pause becomes. In prop trading, the trading nominal is provided by the company: you pay for the selection, work within its loss limits and share profits under a contract, and you don't keep your own money on the exchange. It's worth understanding this scheme in advance, not on the day another platform closes the withdrawal button.