Mercado Bitcoin to restart Brazilian real withdrawals after $49 million hack

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Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin plans to resume deposits and withdrawals in Brazilian reais through Pix next week, more than 15 days after a hack that drained an estimated $49 million from wallets linked to the platform.

A company representative said that customers will only be able to withdraw funds to bank accounts held in their own names. The exchange will also credit customer accounts with proceeds from the settlement of fixed-income products.

Crypto deposits and withdrawals will remain suspended, with no timetable announced for their resumption.

Mercado Bitcoin, one of Brazil’s largest crypto exchanges, began restoring customer access on Monday, initially allowing users to view their accounts in read-only mode. Customers regaining access are directed to information about the platform’s security measures and regular audits, which it says have been conducted since 2018, as well as a separate account of the incident.