The company has been investigated by the Brazilian Securities and Values Commission (CVM) in January 2022. The suspension will affect approximately 2.500 customers in the process. The company, in an email written to its customers, alleges it was the victim of a hack that made them lose more than USD 31 million.
As the company said, after incessant attempts at resolution, they started the security protocol with the immediate suspension of operations of BlueBenx Finance products, including withdrawals, redemptions, deposits, and transfers.
No details were shared about the nature of the attack, but the communication did explain that these measures would be active for 180 days, at least. In the same day as the announcement the company fired all its employees, according to reports from a former employee obtained by Portal do Bitcoin, a local source. More than 30 employees were fired, according to statement.
The report of the hack, and how it coincided with the mass layoffs at the company have created suspicions about the real reasons that caused this withdrawal suspension. The company had been investigated earlier this year by the Brazilian Securities and Values Commission due to an alleged offering of unregistered securities as part of its investment portfolio.
The company offered high-yield investment products to entice customers to invest. These products offered up to 66% for having invested funds locked for a year. Some of these instruments did not disclose the investment strategy behind them, per customers’ statements.
Some Brazilian companies have alleged hacks to stop paying their customers. This is the case of Trust Investing, which also blocked withdrawals for its customers for nine months due to an alleged hack attack. The Brazilian Congress is currently discussing a bill that would establish harsher penalties for crypto-related crimes to discourage companies and individuals from offering scam products and running pyramid schemes.
It seems like Brazilians have more choices when it comes to crypto nowadays. Some of them might be pyramid schemes, but others are genuine companies trying to develop the market. Mercado Libre is a reputable company, and it has recently expanded its crypto offering further into LATAM, starting with Brazil.
As of December 2021, users of Mercado Pago, Mercado Libre’s digital wallet, are allowed to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ether and stablecoin Pax dollar (USDP) in Brazil after an integration with Paxos blockchain infrastructure.
Spain-based international bank Santander has also announced plans to offer crypto trading to its clients in Brazil in the latter half of 2022. The bank plans to launch crypto-related services and could provide further news about the initiative in the company's next earnings release, in mid-October.
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