Mercado Bitcoin incident losses rise to about $46.5 million: exchange says it will absorb the losses, while deposits and withdrawals remain disabled
This is a follow-up, filling in the gap left by the previous post (00:38): that post only confirmed that Tether had frozen more than 4.5 million USDT, while the total losses were still based on Hypernative’s preliminary estimate of over $40 million. This update brings a new estimate backed by more data.
Here are the new figures: on-chain tracker Onchain Lens says addresses connected to the incident currently hold about $46.5 million in crypto assets across 46 addresses, including around 3,680 ETH, 106 BTC, and about $8 million in stablecoins. A separate estimate from Arkham analysts puts the figure at about $46 million and rising, saying old deposit addresses are still being swept and meme coins and altcoins are being sold. A note on the figures: trackers differ on the number of addresses (one version says 36, another 46), but their totals are all around $46 million. The exchange itself has yet to confirm the total, so $46.5 million is an on-chain tracking estimate, not an official loss assessment—don’t treat it as a figure announced by the exchange.
There’s also a new statement about who will cover the losses: according to Bloomberg, the exchange said it would absorb the losses itself and expects customers not to be affected. This is consistent with its earlier position that “customers will suffer no losses,” but this time Bloomberg has reported an explicit commitment to cover them. Unfortunately, deposits and withdrawals are still suspended, with no timeline for resuming them. The exchange has still not said which system was affected or whether customer funds were involved.
Compare this with the figures in the previous post and you can see how slow the progress has been: the more than 4.5 million USDT frozen by Tether accounts for less than a tenth of the $46.5 million. And a freeze doesn’t mean the funds have been recovered, let alone that deposits and withdrawals will resume. The funds are still sitting in tracked addresses, and the most immediate problem for users hasn’t changed: they still can’t move their assets.
A quick market update, based on prices checked just before publication: $BTC was around 77,028 (24h -1.40%), $ETH around 2,254 (-0.67%), and $SOL around 92.47 (-2.42%). The spread between Binance spot and OKX perpetuals was under 0.1%. The market hasn’t been sent tumbling by this incident: $BTC fell from 77,446 at 00:39 to around 77,028, which is ordinary fluctuation—don’t force a connection to this incident. One more point: neither the exchange nor the trackers have linked this Mercado incident to the approximately $6.3 billion theft from Binance on October 29. Don’t assume they were carried out by the same group.
My take: the estimate rising from $40 million to $46.5 million suggests the first tally missed a lot of the sweeping activity, and the losses are broader than initially thought. The exchange saying it will “absorb the losses itself” is a positive statement, but until it provides a timeline, it hasn’t been delivered for users. There’s only one real turning point: deposits and withdrawals resuming.
Risk warning: All figures above come from media reports and on-chain tracking; the exchange has not confirmed the total. A freeze does not mean funds have been recovered. Risks from small exchanges’ hot wallets have been flagged twice already this week. Diversify your assets and don’t keep your entire net worth on one exchange. This is not investment advice.
A quick either-or question: When an exchange has an incident and says, “I’ll absorb the losses myself,” do you believe it—or does it only count once deposits and withdrawals have actually resumed?
#MercadoBitcoin #交易所安全 #BTC #ETH
This is a follow-up, filling in the gap left by the previous post (00:38): that post only confirmed that Tether had frozen more than 4.5 million USDT, while the total losses were still based on Hypernative’s preliminary estimate of over $40 million. This update brings a new estimate backed by more data.
Here are the new figures: on-chain tracker Onchain Lens says addresses connected to the incident currently hold about $46.5 million in crypto assets across 46 addresses, including around 3,680 ETH, 106 BTC, and about $8 million in stablecoins. A separate estimate from Arkham analysts puts the figure at about $46 million and rising, saying old deposit addresses are still being swept and meme coins and altcoins are being sold. A note on the figures: trackers differ on the number of addresses (one version says 36, another 46), but their totals are all around $46 million. The exchange itself has yet to confirm the total, so $46.5 million is an on-chain tracking estimate, not an official loss assessment—don’t treat it as a figure announced by the exchange.
There’s also a new statement about who will cover the losses: according to Bloomberg, the exchange said it would absorb the losses itself and expects customers not to be affected. This is consistent with its earlier position that “customers will suffer no losses,” but this time Bloomberg has reported an explicit commitment to cover them. Unfortunately, deposits and withdrawals are still suspended, with no timeline for resuming them. The exchange has still not said which system was affected or whether customer funds were involved.
Compare this with the figures in the previous post and you can see how slow the progress has been: the more than 4.5 million USDT frozen by Tether accounts for less than a tenth of the $46.5 million. And a freeze doesn’t mean the funds have been recovered, let alone that deposits and withdrawals will resume. The funds are still sitting in tracked addresses, and the most immediate problem for users hasn’t changed: they still can’t move their assets.
A quick market update, based on prices checked just before publication: $BTC was around 77,028 (24h -1.40%), $ETH around 2,254 (-0.67%), and $SOL around 92.47 (-2.42%). The spread between Binance spot and OKX perpetuals was under 0.1%. The market hasn’t been sent tumbling by this incident: $BTC fell from 77,446 at 00:39 to around 77,028, which is ordinary fluctuation—don’t force a connection to this incident. One more point: neither the exchange nor the trackers have linked this Mercado incident to the approximately $6.3 billion theft from Binance on October 29. Don’t assume they were carried out by the same group.
My take: the estimate rising from $40 million to $46.5 million suggests the first tally missed a lot of the sweeping activity, and the losses are broader than initially thought. The exchange saying it will “absorb the losses itself” is a positive statement, but until it provides a timeline, it hasn’t been delivered for users. There’s only one real turning point: deposits and withdrawals resuming.
Risk warning: All figures above come from media reports and on-chain tracking; the exchange has not confirmed the total. A freeze does not mean funds have been recovered. Risks from small exchanges’ hot wallets have been flagged twice already this week. Diversify your assets and don’t keep your entire net worth on one exchange. This is not investment advice.
A quick either-or question: When an exchange has an incident and says, “I’ll absorb the losses myself,” do you believe it—or does it only count once deposits and withdrawals have actually resumed?
#MercadoBitcoin #交易所安全 #BTC #ETH
