BitMart founder Sheldon Xia confirms the platform was hacked yesterday, says the amount was small
BitMart founder Sheldon Xia posted on the X platform on November 3, 2026, saying that BitMart was also hacked yesterday, involving a small amount, and that the platform quickly investigated and strengthened security measures.
Sheldon said that due to the restructuring, BitMart retained only a core team. Users’ doxxing and threats, as well as retaliation from some dissatisfied employees, including former marketing operations head Elly, made many technical staff unwilling to stay and maintain systems in an environment facing personal attacks. After extensive communication, some key technical employees were persuaded to stay to maintain the core systems.
He said that the platform is still facing a large number of attacks, and the security team is currently severely understaffed, but is still doing its best to protect data and assets. Preliminary investigation shows that yesterday’s attack may have been carried out by the same group that attacked Mercado Bitcoin in Brazil.
Original source:
Title: Yes, we got hacked yesterday too... Publisher: Sheldon (@sheldonbitmart) Publication date: 2026-11-03 URL: https://x.com/sheldonbitmart/status/2117650361154691529 Nature of source: original post by the party concerned Verification status: full text of the original post was read in this instance Supporting content: Sheldon confirmed the attack, the small amount, the restructuring background, the staffing shortage, and the initial indication of the same group
ABAB AI Insight
Sheldon Xia’s post came against the backdrop of BitMart’s restructuring. He attributed the difficulty in retaining technical staff to users’ doxxing, threats, and retaliation by former employees, including former marketing operations head Elly, and said that only after individual communication were some key people persuaded to stay and maintain the core systems. This statement directly links internal staff turnover with external attack defense capability.
As for the source of the attack, Sheldon only said that preliminary investigation showed it may have been the same group that attacked Mercado Bitcoin, and did not provide on-chain evidence details or formal attribution. Related reports citing Bitquery and others pointed out that funds flowed from BitMart-related wallets to addresses associated with the Mercado Bitcoin attack, but that connection remains an inference.
BitMart previously suffered a large-scale hot wallet attack (in 2021). This time, Sheldon stressed that the amount involved was small and noted that the security team is severely understaffed, but he did not disclose a specific loss figure, whether user balances were affected, or whether the platform would bear the loss. The post focuses on the operational pressure after restructuring and the continuing attacks.
This incident did not change BitMart’s publicly disclosed restructuring status, nor did it provide a new user asset compensation plan or security audit results. Sheldon’s statement places the attack at the intersection of restructuring, staff loss, and external threats, but does not assign responsibility to factors other than specific former employees or external groups.
ABAB News · Law of cognition
Sheldon said BitMart was attacked yesterday, the amount was small, and security has been strengthened.
He attributed technical staff’s unwillingness to stay to user threats and retaliation by some former employees.
Preliminary investigation points to the possibility of the same group behind the Mercado Bitcoin attack, but no full evidence was provided.