Brazilian Exchange Mercado Bitcoin Set to Restore Fiat Withdrawals Following $49M Security Breach
Following a security breach that resulted in $49 million in losses, Mercado Bitcoin plans to restore Pix deposit and withdrawal services in the upcoming week, though cryptocurrency trading and transfer capabilities will continue to remain suspended.
Brazilian cryptocurrency trading platform Mercado Bitcoin plans to reinstate deposit and withdrawal services in Brazilian reais through Pix, Brazil's instant payment infrastructure, during the upcoming week, according to a company spokesperson who spoke with Cointelegraph. This restoration will occur over 15 days following a cyberattack that resulted in the drainage of approximately $49 million from wallets associated with the trading platform.
Users will be restricted to withdrawing their funds exclusively to bank accounts registered under their own names. Additionally, Mercado Bitcoin plans to deposit funds into customer accounts representing the settlement proceeds from fixed income investment products. Cryptocurrency deposit and withdrawal functionalities continue to be unavailable, and the exchange has not announced a timeline for when these services will be restored.
As one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Brazil, Mercado Bitcoin initiated its restoration process this past Monday, one week following the security breach, by providing customers with read-only access to view their account information. Users who successfully regain account access are redirected to a dedicated page that describes the platform's security protocols and the regular audit procedures that have been conducted since 2018, along with a hyperlink to an additional account detailing the security incident.
In a recently published video statement, Fabricio Tota, who serves as Mercado Bitcoin's vice president of new business, described the upcoming phase of the recovery process. As of now, the exchange has not made a detailed rollout timeline available on its official website.
The resumption will proceed gradually, and the rollout of additional services will be communicated to clients in advance through MB's official channels.
Mercado Bitcoin representative
The security breach that hit Mercado Bitcoin on Nov. 2 occurred just four days following a separate incident in which cybercriminals extracted approximately $6.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency from Binance's hot wallet infrastructure in another major breach. Law enforcement officials from the FBI have linked the Binance security breach to cybercriminal groups operating out of North Korea. In response to the incident, the cryptocurrency exchange announced its intention to compensate for all customer losses by utilizing resources from its emergency reserve fund and corporate treasury holdings.