Circle and Paxos Freeze Nearly $7 Million Tied to Mercado Bitcoin Incident

A researcher estimates that Circle and Paxos have frozen nearly $7 million in tokens tied to the Mercado Bitcoin incident, while withdrawals at the exchange remain suspended.

On-chain records show Circle froze USD Coin (USDC) on Polygon and Paxos froze gold tokens on Ethereum. The combined estimate covers those two actions.

Tether has separately said it froze more than $4.5 million in USDT linked to the incident. Mercado Bitcoin has also identified wallets tied to the event.

On-chain records also show a breach-linked wallet sent 2,800 Ether (ETH) onward. The transfer is a separate development from the Circle and Paxos freezes.