Researcher Puts Mercado Bitcoin Freezes Near $7 Million

Researcher Mercado Bitcoin has frozen roughly $7 million in customer assets, with onchain records showing Circle freezing USDC on Polygon and Paxos freezing gold tokens (PAXG) on Ethereum, while exchange withdrawals remain suspended. The freezes span two major stablecoin and tokenized-asset issuers, indicating coordinated action rather than a single-protocol issue, and the suspension of withdrawals leaves users unable to move funds off the exchange. The $7 million figure is modest relative to major exchange failures, but the involvement of USDC and PAXG—both widely used for settlement and gold exposure—raises questions about the underlying cause, whether regulatory, legal, or operational. Watch for whether Circle and Paxos disclose the basis for the freezes, whether Mercado Bitcoin restores withdrawal functionality, and whether the affected total grows beyond the current ~$7 million estimate.