After BitMart and Mercado Bitcoin Hacks, Hacker Exchanged Stolen Tokens for ETH

After the attacks on BitMart and Mercado Bitcoin on November 2, blockchain analysts discovered transfers to common addresses. According to Bitquery's estimate, assets worth $48.6 million were withdrawn from the wallets of the Brazilian exchange. Then, part of the stolen altcoins was exchanged for ETH.

What Connects the Two Attacks

BitMart founder Sheldon Xia confirmed that the exchange was also hacked on November 2. He described the damage as minor but did not disclose the amount.

According to Bitquery, about 53 minutes before the start of the fund withdrawal from Mercado Bitcoin, suspicious transfers amounting to $391,000 occurred from addresses mainly associated with BitMart. The funds were sent to addresses mentioned in the investigation of the Mercado Bitcoin attack. The ownership of specific BitMart wallets is not confirmed. The coincidence of addresses does not prove a common hacking method.

Which Assets Were Exchanged for Ethereum

Bitquery analysts recorded 398 exchanges between November 3–4. The perpetrator sold 136 types of tokens worth approximately $11.9 million, receiving about $11 million in ETH. According to Lookonchain, the assets included PEPE, AAVE, UNI, ONDO, and ENA.

In an earlier observation, researchers counted 7,988 ETH valued at about $18.19 million. In Bitquery's updated assessment, the attacker's controlled addresses in Ethereum held 8,678 ETH, distributed among ten wallets. These values correspond to different observation moments.

Separately, Arkham reported a transfer of VIRTUAL tokens worth approximately $1.1 million to a new wallet and sales in small batches of about $20,000. These are data at the time of observation, not the confirmed final sales volume.

The operations to exchange altcoins for ETH have already taken place. However, this does not imply a subsequent sale of ETH for fiat money.

What This Means for the Market

The sale of individual stolen tokens may temporarily increase supply in the respective markets. However, the volume of these operations alone does not prove the likelihood of a massive drop in altcoins or Ethereum.

The thesis about seven days of outflows from ETH-ETF is outdated: on November 4, American spot funds received a net inflow of $42.6 million, according to Farside Investors.

The separate Binance hack on October 29 should not be mixed with the November attacks. The exchange reported assets worth $6.34 billion affected by the incident, not a confirmed theft of the entire amount.

Risks depend on new sales and the results of the investigation.