BitMart confirmed a security breach on November 2 that drained an estimated $391,000 – small change by exchange-hack standards, except for one detail: the exchange says the same attackers may also be behind the roughly $49 million strike on Brazil’s Mercado Bitcoin the same day. BitMart’s founder confirmed the incident in reporting dated November 3-4; the $391,000 figure is Bitquery’s on-chain estimate of outflows, mostly from wallets linked to BitMart, not a final audited total.
What Happened
The attack landed November 2. Blockchain investigation firm Bitquery estimated approximately $391,000 was drained from wallets tied to the exchange. BitMart preliminarily suspected the same operators hit Mercado Bitcoin – Brazil’s largest crypto exchange – in an attack estimated at $46-49 million. The connection is preliminary: based on on-chain investigation findings, not a conclusive attribution.
The Mercado Bitcoin Side
The Brazilian exchange’s incident, also dated November 2, sits an order of magnitude above BitMart’s in dollar terms. If the link holds up, it points to a coordinated campaign rather than a one-off exchange probe – the kind of day where attackers hit two venues on two continents and got away with a combined haul north of $49 million.
What It Means for Exchange Users
For traders, the calculus is old but worth repeating: an exchange holding your keys is a counterparty, not a vault. The silver lining in BitMart’s case is scale – $391,000 is survivable for most exchanges, and a fast public confirmation beats the days of silence that usually follow this kind of news. The not-so-silver lining is the alleged link to a $49 million hit. Attribution remains preliminary, and both investigations are ongoing.
