Originally published by Cointelegraph on Nov. 10, 2026, at 02:25:29 UTC+8.
Mercado Bitcoin began restoring read-only account access in phases on Monday, a week after attackers drained an estimated $49 million from the Brazilian crypto exchange. Customers were being allowed to view their recorded holdings, but the exchange had not announced when they could withdraw funds.
A spokesperson told Cointelegraph that access would begin at 19:00 UTC, with all accounts expected to be viewable by 21:00 UTC. The balances shown would reflect holdings as they stood on Nov. 2, the day of the hack.
Account records return before access to funds
In a video posted to the exchange’s X account, Fabricio Tota, vice president of new business, said read-only access was intended to reassure customers that their assets remained recorded on the platform. That restoration did not give customers the ability to move those assets.
Mercado Bitcoin said it was using company funds to replace the stolen assets and that customers would not bear the losses. It pledged on Nov. 4 to cover all losses with its own funds, bolstered by a $20 million investment from stablecoin issuer Tether in July.
Tota said nearly all assets had not been touched or involved in the incident. He also said a portion of the stolen funds had been frozen in the hours after the company disclosed the attack.
Wallet access remains unexplained
Tota described the phased reopening as “a more conservative approach” intended “to ensure our return happens with the utmost security.”
The caution followed concerns from blockchain security analysts that attackers had accessed wallet addresses and drained funds through standard transfers rather than a smart-contract exploit. Analysts traced some stolen funds to customer deposit addresses. Mercado Bitcoin had not explained how the attackers gained access to its wallets.
Blockchain data company Bitquery found that, as of Nov. 4, wallets it linked to the attacker still held most of the stolen funds that had escaped freezes, including 106.07 BTC.
Withdrawal recovery has no announced date
The next recovery phase would require customers to confirm their registration details before moving funds. Mercado Bitcoin planned to restore withdrawals through Pix, Brazil’s instant payment system, initially limiting transfers to accounts in each customer’s own name. Tota gave no date for either step.
Mercado Bitcoin, one of Brazil’s largest crypto exchanges, told Brazilian magazine Veja in late October that it had more than 4.8 million customers and had processed over 215 billion Brazilian reais ($39 billion) in cumulative transactions.
At the time of the report, the distinction for customers remained clear: account records were becoming visible again, while the ability to withdraw—and the timetable for restoring it—remained unresolved.