Chainalysis Says Its Response Helped Freeze Nearly $10M After Mercado Bitcoin Hack
Summary
After Mercado Bitcoin reported a November 2 hack draining an estimated $49 million across 17 blockchains, Chainalysis says its coordination with law enforcement and issuers helped freeze nearly $10 million, including over $9 million in USDT.
Key points
- Mercado Bitcoin reported that an attacker drained an estimated $49 million in cryptocurrency across 17 blockchains on November 2.
- Chainalysis says it began tracing the unauthorized transactions after receiving information from a Mercado Bitcoin director.
- The company coordinated with law enforcement and stablecoin issuers to identify funds that might be frozen.
- Chainalysis says the response helped freeze nearly $10 million in stolen funds, including over $9 million in USDT frozen by Tether.
- The company says it continues to trace the remaining funds and monitor their movement.
Article Details
- Event Type
- Cybersecurity incident involving theft of cryptocurrency from Mercado Bitcoin
- Impact
- Approximately $49 million in cryptocurrency was stolen. Chainalysis reported helping freeze nearly $10 million, including over $9 million in stolen USDT frozen by Tether.
Vendors
Anchorage DigitalOver the course of this hack we communicated directly with Paxos, Anchorage Digital, Ripple, Circle, and Tether, working together with law enforcement to shut down stolen stablecoins issued by them.Chainalysissuffered a security incident that resulted in approximately $49 million in stolen funds. As a Chainalysis customer, Mercado Bitcoin alerted our team in the early hours of the incident. We immediately mobilisedCircleOver the course of this hack we communicated directly with Paxos, Anchorage Digital, Ripple, Circle, and Tether, working together with law enforcement to shut down stolen stablecoins issued by them.PaxosOver the course of this hack we communicated directly with Paxos, Anchorage Digital, Ripple, Circle, and Tether, working together with law enforcement to shut down stolen stablecoins issued by them.RippleOver the course of this hack we communicated directly with Paxos, Anchorage Digital, Ripple, Circle, and Tether, working together with law enforcement to shut down stolen stablecoins issued by them.TetherOver the course of this hack we communicated directly with Paxos, Anchorage Digital, Ripple, Circle, and Tether, working together with law enforcement to shut down stolen stablecoins issued by them.
Products
BaseThe largest tranches came from Bitcoin and Ethereum, but assets on smaller blockchains, like Base, Tron, and Polygon, were also swept.BitcoinEarly this morning Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil’s largest crypto exchange, suffered a security incident that resulted in approximately $49 million in stolen funds. As a Chainalysis customer, Mercado Bitcoin alerted our teamEthereumdrain an estimated $49 million in various cryptocurrencies. The largest tranches came from Bitcoin and Ethereum, but assets on smaller blockchains, like Base, Tron, and Polygon, were also swept.Polygonlargest tranches came from Bitcoin and Ethereum, but assets on smaller blockchains, like Base, Tron, and Polygon, were also swept.TRONThe largest tranches came from Bitcoin and Ethereum, but assets on smaller blockchains, like Base, Tron, and Polygon, were also swept.USDTFor example, our investigators identified stolen funds held in USDT and rapidly traced them to addresses where the assets could potentially be frozen. Using our established relationships with Tether and law enforcement,