Brazil-based Nubank, the brand under which Nu Holdings operates, has halted cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals in Brazil. Mercado Pago, which is controlled by Mercado Libre, has blocked some transfers to external wallets as a precaution.
Neither company has said when full service will resume. It is also not yet clear whether the two incidents are connected or involve the same third-party provider.
Nubank pauses deposits and withdrawals
In a statement released on 6 November 2026, Nubank said that all customer assets and information remain protected. The company attributed the disruption to an issue with a business partner, which it did not name. It also said the problem is not related to its own infrastructure and does not compromise customer security.
According to the company, its other crypto products continue to operate normally. Nubank serves about 120 million clients in Brazil, but it has not disclosed how many of them have been affected by the suspension.
Mercado Pago gave more details on the origin of its disruption. The company said it identified instability in crypto asset transfers, caused by an incident at an entity that supplies it with risk monitoring and AML services. In response, it restricted certain transfers to external wallets.
The company added that incoming deposits may be delayed before they are completed. It said these deposits will be credited automatically once service is restored.
Third-party dependencies and sector context
The disruptions show how consumer fintechs offering crypto services rely on external partners for functions such as risk monitoring and compliance screening. An incident at one of these providers can interrupt customer-facing services even when a platform’s own systems are unaffected, a distinction Nubank made explicitly in its statement.
The suspensions also come as security concerns in the crypto sector are elevated. Binance said in a social media post on 6 November 2026 that it is gradually restoring withdrawal services for some assets following the theft. Earlier the same week, Brazil-based Mercado Bitcoin Serviços Digitais said it would absorb a USD 40 million loss after being hacked.
The available information does not indicate that the provider issues at Nubank and Mercado Pago are linked to either of these security breaches. Taken together, however, the events point to operational pressure across crypto services in Brazil and internationally. That pressure covers both direct attacks on exchanges and disruptions further along the service chain.
