Brazil's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals after detecting a security incident in one of its systems, the company disclosed on Monday, November 2. The announcement came as on-chain security firm Hypernative flagged multi-chain outflows from wallets linked to the platform.

In an official statement posted on X, the São Paulo-based exchange said it identified and swiftly contained the incident, which it detected in the early hours of Monday morning. The statement, issued in Portuguese, reads:

Comunicado oficial: Identificamos e contivemos com rapidez um incidente de segurança em um de nossos sistemas nesta madrugada. Reforçamos que: • Não houve nenhum prejuízo aos clientes; • Não houve vazamento de dados. Como medida preventiva de proteção, depósitos e saques…
— Mercado Bitcoin (@MercadoBitcoin) November 2, 2026

The company emphasized that no customers suffered losses and that no data was leaked in the incident. The suspension of deposits and withdrawals was described as a preventive measure to protect users while the investigation continues — a containment step digital asset platforms commonly take to halt the movement of funds while the scope of a potential breach is being established.

Mercado Bitcoin said its teams are examining the case, tracking the assets involved, and cooperating with the relevant authorities. The company has not disclosed which system was affected or when deposit and withdrawal services will be restored, leaving the size of the outflows flagged by Hypernative and the timetable for resuming services as the key open questions for users.

Founded in São Paulo in 2013, Mercado Bitcoin has grown into one of Brazil's largest digital asset platforms, serving more than 4.8 million clients. The exchange ranks among the most prominent cryptocurrency platforms in Latin America, and that standing means the suspension touches one of the region's largest crypto customer bases.

In July, stablecoin issuer Tether invested $20 million in the company through a strategic growth financing round. According to the announcement at the time, the investment is expected to accelerate Mercado Bitcoin's development of payments infrastructure, tokenized investment products, lending and credit services, on-chain capital markets, strategic partnerships, and international operations. The incident arrives several months into that planned expansion.

Source: CryptoBriefing