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Costs, licensing, consumer protection Privacy, self-custody, censorship resistance
B D LATAM/MENA/Africa Crypto Exchanges

Mercado Bitcoin

Mercado Bitcoin

Mercado Bitcoin Serviços Digitais Ltda. (gruppo 2TM Participações S.A.)

Status
Subsidiary
Legal HQ
Brazil
Founded
2013
Corporate site
2tm.com.br
Valuation
$2.1B
Latest round
Series B — $200M da SoftBank Latin America Fund (luglio 2021)

Main investors / shareholders

  • SoftBank Latin America Fund · Other
  • G2D/GP Investments · Other
  • Parallax Ventures · Other
  • HS Investimentos · Other
  • Gear Ventures · Other
  • Évora · Other
  • Genial · Other

Mercado Bitcoin is Brazil's largest crypto exchange, founded in 2013. Its holding company 2TM Participações S.A. reached unicorn status with a $2.1 billion valuation in the SoftBank-led Series B round (July 2021). Privately held, not publicly listed.
3.8/5 0.7/5
Taker fee 0.7%

Data verified on unchanged since the sources

Worth it if you live in Brazil and want an exchange registered as a Payment Institution with the Banco Central, with instant PIX deposits.

Avoid it if you live outside Brazil or trade often: it operates only there, the taker fee is 0.7% and Proof of Reserves is not documented.

Visit official website ↗

Mercado Bitcoin is a Brazilian exchange registered as a Payment Institution with the Banco Central, offering instant PIX payments and a $2.1B valuation backed by SoftBank. Its main limitation is its exclusive focus on Brazil and exposure to the volatility of the real (BRL).

68
Transparency: Medium
68/100 · see methodology
68
Data exposure: Medium
68/100 · lower is better for sovereignty · methodology

Data & conditions

Maker / Taker fee 0.3% / 0.7%
Markets Spot
Max leverage 1×
Supported assets 250+
Trading pairs 500+
Fiat on-ramp Yes
Deposit methods Pix, TED, Bonifico bancario BRL
Staking / Earn Staking, liquidity pool, fixed-income products
Fund custody Custodial (platform holds funds)
KYC Full
Supported countries LATAM · 1+ countries
Regulator Central Bank of Brazil (BCB)
OAM Italy registration No
Segment B2C
MiCA / License status BCB Brasile Payment Institution (Banco Central Brasil)

Strengths

  • Payment Institution (Banco Central); PIX istantaneo; $2,1B valutazione SoftBank.
  • No notable sovereignty advantage documented.

Weaknesses

  • Only Brazil; volatility BRL.
  • Custodial: the platform holds your funds and can freeze or lose them.
  • Full KYC required: verified identity, zero pseudonymity.
  • Subject to regulation (Payment Institution (Banco Central Brasil)): reporting to authorities and freezes on order.

Verdict

B D ★ 3.8/5 ★ 0.7/5

Registration as a Payment Institution with the Banco Central, instant PIX payments and a $2.1B valuation backed by SoftBank give Mercado Bitcoin a solidity that places it at the top of its tier. The main brake is its single-market exposure: it operates only in Brazil, and the real's volatility exposes users to non-trivial currency risk, while the 0.7% taker fee stays high.

The regulated Payment Institution status that is Mercado Bitcoin's strength on the consumer side becomes the opposite signal here: full integration into the traditional payment system, centralized custody and mandatory KYC. There is no self-custody, privacy or on-chain component. For anyone seeking sovereignty over their funds there is essentially nothing to value.

Privacy & anonymity 30% 0.8
Fund control 20% 0.0
Censorship resistance 20% 1.5
Costs 10% 0.0

Promp's editorial rating based on real fees and net annual cost. Promp reviews third-party products independently.

"Sovereignty" rating: score computed on privacy/anonymity (30%), fund control (20%), censorship resistance (20%), trustless/auditability (20%) and costs (10%). Same data, different weights.

Reputation

What happened to people who used Mercado Bitcoin, and what users say. External signals: they do not feed the promp.it rating.

Incidents & regulatory actions

Notable incidents

Documented events with consequences still open. Each entry carries a source and a date.

  1. Hack / funds theft Severe $40M ● open

    About $40 million stolen from hot wallets, deposits and withdrawals suspended

    During the night of 2 Nov 2026 (Brasília time) an attacker drained the platform's operational (hot) wallets across at least 10 blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Tron, Polygon, Arbitrum, Avalanche, BSC and Stellar. The outflows were ordinary signed transactions, not a smart contract exploit: how the attacker obtained signing access is not yet known. In its official statement of 2 Nov (X @MercadoBitcoin) the exchange said it had contained a security incident in one of its systems, that customers suffered no losses and that no data was leaked; deposits and withdrawals were suspended as a precaution. According to Bloomberg and CoinDesk the loss is about $40 million and the company said it will absorb it with its own funds, buying back the stolen crypto. Tether froze more than 4.5 million USDT linked to the attack. No public attribution. Reopening is gradual: from 9 Nov users can only view balances and statements; the exchange has given no dates for withdrawals, deposits and trading.

    ↗ source

verified on

Public reviews

4.1/5 108,545 reviews
  • Google Play ↗ 4.0/5 85,657 reviews

    Rating and count from the Google Play listing's official JSON-LD.

  • App Store ↗ 4.6/5 22,888 reviews

    Average App Store rating, Brazil storefront (official iTunes lookup).

Weighted average across 2 public review platforms (108,545 reviews in total), weighted by volume. This is not our rating: it is those platforms’ average.

FAQ

What are Mercado Bitcoin's fees?

On Mercado Bitcoin, spot fees are maker 0.3% / taker 0.7%. They drop with monthly volume and VIP tier.

Is Mercado Bitcoin regulated in Europe?

Regulatory status of Mercado Bitcoin: Payment Institution (Banco Central Brasil). Licence: BCB Brasile.

Does Mercado Bitcoin publish Proof of Reserves?

Proof of Reserves publication is not documented for Mercado Bitcoin. No third-party reserve audit is documented. Reserve transparency is a critical factor after the FTX collapse.

Can I send transfers to third-party IBANs from Mercado Bitcoin?

No, Mercado Bitcoin is an exchange and does not allow transfers to third-party IBANs: fiat withdrawals return to a bank account in your own name.

Does Mercado Bitcoin support derivatives and futures?

Mercado Bitcoin does not offer derivatives: it focuses on spot trading.

Sources

Show 9 more sources

Update history

✓ Terms unchanged since Jun 1, 2026

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