Mercado Bitcoin will resume deposits and withdrawals via Pix starting next week. It is one of Brazil's largest crypto exchanges. Pix is the Brazilian central bank's instant payment system.
Deposits and withdrawals of cryptocurrency itself remain suspended. The exchange has not given dates for their resumption.
The cause of the outage is a hack. For a trader, this is an example of how access to one's own assets is closed by someone else's decision.
What exactly is being reopened?
Only money operations. Deposits and withdrawals of reais via Pix will be enabled starting next week, more than 15 days after the attack. According to an exchange representative, the rollout will be "gradual."
- Withdrawals are allowed only to an account in the client's own name - transfers to third-party details are closed.
- Funds from the redemption of fixed-income instruments will be credited to clients separately, the exchange promises.
- Cryptocurrency operations are closed, and no timeline for resumption has been announced.
Why was everything shut down?
The exchange was hacked. About $49 million left wallets linked to Mercado Bitcoin.
- November 2. Attack on the exchange's wallets, losses of about $49 million.
- Monday, a week after the hack. Clients regained access to their accounts, but only in view-only mode: the balance is visible, but they cannot manage it.
- The next stage. The return of Pix operations was described by Fabricio Tota, Mercado Bitcoin's vice president for new business, in a video address.
What the client sees after logging in. The page describes the exchange's security measures and regular audits since 2018, with a link to a separate description of the incident.
What does this mean for a trader?
This is the second such case in two weeks. Assets on an exchange became unavailable by the platform's decision, not the owner's.
- $6.3 billion - that is how much was withdrawn from Binance's "hot" wallets four days before Mercado Bitcoin. "Hot" wallets are storages connected to the network.
- The FBI linked that theft to hackers from North Korea.
- Binance said it would cover the loss from its reserve fund and its own funds.
A difference in approach. The Brazilian platform has not yet promised compensation, and crypto holders on it are waiting with no deadline. You can read about trading a company account and its limits in the academy.
The main point: money on an exchange is available exactly until the exchange stops operations, and it can be returned only on its terms.
What's next?
There is no launch schedule. It is not published on the website, and each next step will be announced in advance through official channels, they promise.
- The exchange's official channels - only there will the resumption of crypto operations be announced.
- Your own deposit - decide in advance how much you are prepared to leave on an exchange without access for weeks.
- The terms of prop firms are collected in the catalog: there, the trading account is provided by the company, not by the trader themselves.
Is your money sitting on an exchange right now?
For two weeks the balance is visible, but you can't touch it. A case like this explains the risk better than any article. The larger your own deposit, the more of your money is sitting in someone else's wallet. In prop trading, the trading volume is set by the company: you pay for the selection, trade with its account within loss limits, and receive an agreed share of the profit. Look at how this scheme works before the next exchange puts withdrawals on pause.