BitMart founder Sheldon Xia confirmed on Nov. 3 that the exchange suffered another security breach on Nov. 2, stating the amount involved was relatively small and that the company moved quickly to investigate and strengthen security. The disclosure followed blockchain transactions showing funds moving from BitMart-associated wallets to an address linked to the recent exploit of Brazil’s Mercado Bitcoin.
Xia wrote “Yes, we got hacked yesterday too,” and said initial findings suggest the attackers may be the same group responsible for the Mercado Bitcoin incident. Blockchain analytics firm Bitquery estimated that approximately $391,000 was drained from wallets mostly linked to BitMart beginning about 53 minutes before the larger Mercado Bitcoin attack. Transactions were traced to attacker-controlled addresses involved in the Brazilian exchange’s exploit.
BitMart has not disclosed its own loss estimate or how attackers gained wallet access. Xia attributed security difficulties to severe understaffing after restructuring, staff departures and disputes involving former personnel. He said doxxing, threats from users and retaliation by disgruntled employees had made it hard to retain technical staff, adding: “Our security team is currently severely understaffed.”
The exchange had already been under financial pressure after halting trading in August and appointing Alvarez & Marsal as financial adviser. BitMart’s restructuring proposal cited a December 2021 hack that depleted about $319.5 million in digital assets, including $164.1 million in Ethereum, $96.5 million in BNB and $51.5 million in Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, Mercado Bitcoin said approximately $38 million in assets were involved in the Nov. 2 attack, with around $11 million frozen with industry help. Chainalysis estimated the stolen amount at about $49 million and helped coordinate freezing nearly $10 million. Mercado Bitcoin published suspicious destination wallet addresses across Ethereum-compatible networks, Bitcoin, Solana, Stellar and Tron to assist tracking efforts and said customers would not bear the losses.
