Mercado Bitcoin Attacker Converts Assets to $10.55M in Ether, Arkham Reports

An attacker targeting Mercado Bitcoin converted stolen tokens into $10.55 million worth of $ETH, according to data from onchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence ¹.

Arkham traced $13.26 million departing wallets tagged as connected to the exploit ¹. Following the outflow, Mercado Bitcoin adjusted its assessment of the breach, raising its estimated figure of blocked assets to $12.9 million ¹. At the time of writing, $ETH traded at $2,311, gaining 1.4% over the prior 24 hours amid broader market fear.

Tracing Fund Movements

The asset swap represents an effort by the exploiter to consolidate illicit proceeds through Ethereum liquid holdings ¹. The transfers tracked by Arkham Intelligence show that $13.26 million departed labeled addresses before being exchanged for the $10.55 million in $ETH ¹. Simultaneously, Mercado Bitcoin's updated estimate indicates that approximately $12.9 million in assets have been blocked ¹.

The incident follows other significant security challenges across the digital asset sector involving centralized platforms, as documented in earlier incidents such as when an attacker executed a major breach Mercado Bitcoin Halts Withdrawals Following Potential $40M Breach and recent widespread cross-exchange transfers ZachXBT Flags Suspected $106 Million Theft From European Entity Across Centralized Exchanges.

Arkham's ongoing wallet monitoring continues to track the destination of the consolidated $ETH balances ¹. The revised $12.9 million blocked-assets metric reported by Mercado Bitcoin marks the latest administrative update regarding the scope of contained funds ¹.