How Satoshi Lost $49M: DeFi Risks Every User Should Know

Brazil’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, suffered a hot-wallet breach in the early hours of November 2, 2026 that drained an estimated $38 million to $49 million across as many as 17 blockchains, with the wide variance in reported figures exposing a recurring gap in how the industry counts losses and how quickly exchanges communicate them to users. The incident, which circulated under the shorthand “Satoshi lost $49 million,” has no verified connection to Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator; blockchain analytics firms traced the funds to Mercado Bitcoin’s own custodial wallets, not to any wallet attributable to Satoshi Nakamoto.