Brazil's Mercado Bitcoin to absorb $40M hack loss, says customer funds are safe

Mercado Bitcoin, described as Brazil’s largest exchange, froze deposits and withdrawals on Monday, Nov. 2, after an overnight breach of one of its systems, saying no customer lost money and that it would absorb all losses itself. The company did not confirm an exact loss figure or a timeline for resuming operations. Security firm Hypernative flagged more than $40 million in suspicious transfers across at least 10 blockchains, and Arkham analyst Emmett Gallic said losses had exceeded $46 million and were rising. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the stablecoin issuer froze more than 4.5 million USDT linked to the breach.