Nubank has restored cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals after an external service-provider disruption, while Mercado Pago had not confirmed the resumption of affected transfers as of November 7. The two Brazilian fintech platforms restricted cryptocurrency movements on November 6, but described different problems involving third-party infrastructure. Nubank attributed its interruption to instability at an external data provider, while Mercado Pago identified an incident involving a provider responsible for risk monitoring and anti-money-laundering services.
The developments highlight how cryptocurrency platforms can lose access to essential transfer functions even when their own infrastructure and customer assets remain unaffected. They also raise questions about the operational dependancy on external compliance and transaction-verification services.
Nubank restores cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals
Nubank restored cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals at 22:00 BRT on Friday, November 6, equivalent to 01:00 UTC on November 7. The services had been temporarily suspended earlier that day following instability at an external data provider.
In its restoration announcement, the bank said the provider’s problems had not affected Nubank’s infrastructure, customer assets or personal information. It did not identify the company responsible for the disruption.
The services came back later that night, after a day when customers could not move crypto in or out.
Fireblocks, which Nubank identifies in its support documentation as a provider of custody technology, separately told Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo that the interruption was not related to problems with its platform. This narrows one possible explanation but does not identify the affected provider.
And the provider name, in Nubank’s case, is still not there.
The restoration followed other recent disruptions involving cryptocurrency transfer infrastructure. Paxos experienced a transfer API outage and subsequent deposit-processing delays on November 4, while Kraken faced problems with Brazilian-real withdrawals through PIX. DaveFinances previously examined both developments in its report on Paxos, Kraken and Bitget’s payment infrastructure issues.
Mercado Pago’s crypto-transfer restrictions remain unresolved
Mercado Pago attributed its disruption to an incident affecting an external provider responsible for risk monitoring and anti-money-laundering services.
The company said some transfers to external cryptocurrency wallets had been blocked preventively to protect customers. Deposits received during the disruption could also experience delays before being credited to customer accounts.
Unlike a complete suspension of cryptocurrency trading, Mercado Pago said customers could continue buying and selling digital assets normally. The restrictions concerned transfers, including movements to external wallets, rather than the platform’s entire cryptocurrency service.
The trading screen stayed open, but the door to the outside wallet was not fully open.
Mercado Pago said delayed deposits would be credited automatically after the affected service was restored. It also said it was monitoring the situation and would notify customers when normal operations resumed.
InfoMoney’s November 7 report confirmed that Nubank had restored its services but said Mercado Pago had not yet confirmed that its affected transfers were operational again. The company had not provided a confirmed restoration time in the latest public update reviewed for this article.
The two companies described seperate categories of external-provider problems, and neither named the service provider involved. Reuters also reported that it remained unclear whether the disruptions involved the same company or had any common technical cause.
Similar reliance on external transfer-verification infrastructure appeared in Japan earlier in the week. Cryptocurrency exchange Zaif suspended deposits and withdrawals across its supported digital assets after an external provider began preventive maintenance on systems used to verify cryptocurrency transfers. DaveFinances covered the interruption in its report on Zaif’s exchange-wide cryptocurrency suspension.
External compliance infrastructure creates operational dependencies
The two Brazilian incidents illustrate different points of dependency in cryptocurrency operations. Nubank described a problem with an external data provider supporting its crypto services, without specifying the affected function. Mercado Pago explicitly identified a risk-monitoring and anti-money-laundering provider, indicating that transaction-screening infrastructure was involved in its restrictions.
Such systems are relevent to cryptocurrency businesses because transfers to external blockchain addresses require more than the technical ability to broadcast a transaction. Platforms also use transaction-monitoring services to assess wallet exposure, identify suspicious activity and apply compliance controls before permitting movements of customer assets.
A recent example involved blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis, which temporarily took its Know Your Transaction (KYT) interface and API offline following abnormal activity affecting its systems. The interruption also affected other screening and investigation products. DaveFinances examined the incident in its report on Chainalysis’ screening-service disruption.
Brazil’s regulatory framework also addresses the management of outsourced services. Resolution BCB 520 requires virtual-asset service providers to maintain policies covering third-party service management, risk management, business continuity and anti-money-laundering controls. Its provisions also require measures to assess third-party service providers as part of transaction-monitoring procedures. The Central Bank of Brazil’s Resolution BCB 520 provides the regulatory framework for these obligations.
These requirements do not establish that either Nubank or Mercado Pago breached a regulation. Nor do the interruptions demonstrate that customer assets were compromised. Both institutions said their customers’ funds remained protected.
For the customer, that is a distinction on paper, but not always in the app. A platform can maintain custody and internal trading functionality while temporarily preventing customers from moving cryptocurrency to another wallet.
The question is less about a shared failure and more about where the service stops when a third party does. Greater operational resiliance depends not only on the reliability of a fintech’s internal systems but also on how it manages external providers, alternative verification arrangements and recovery procedures when essential services become unavailable.
For now, Nubank has confirmed its recovery, while Mercado Pago’s restoration remains unconfirmed in the latest public reporting reviewed. Neither company has disclosed the identity of its affected provider, the number of customers involved or the total volume of delayed transactions.
Johan Shamshad is Editor-in-Chief at Dave Finances, covering financial markets, digital assets, trading platforms, brokers, fintech, payments and regulation. Since 2023, he has also worked as an editor at Gulf News, the UAE English-language newspaper published by Al Nisr Publishing LLC. His work focuses on market-moving developments, company disclosures, regulatory changes and trading infrastructure, with an emphasis on primary-source verification and practical context for traders and investors.