(Commonwealth Union)_ On-chain evidence suggested that a “possible exploit” may have targeted cryptocurrency valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, forcing BNB Chain, a blockchain connected to the busiest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, to halt operations on Thursday.
BNB Beacon Chain and BNB Smart Chain make up BNB Chain (BSC).
“Due to strange activity, we’re temporarily pausing BSC,” BNB Chain stated in its Twitter account. Later, it clarified that the activity was a “potential exploit” which was said to have been contained.
Initial token movements suggested that a hacker may have had as many as 2 million BSC tokens, worth about $570 million, as his objective late on Thursday. However, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao estimated in a tweet that the thief only managed to get away with $100 million of those tokens. Furthermore, according to BNB Chain, $7 million of that total has already been frozen.
The advantage of BNB’s choice to break the chain rather than run the risk of more assets escaping is shown by the fact that such a small quantity of assets was actually taken.
Blockchains are said to be decentralised systems designed to run independently of any one organisation. The act of just flipping an off switch is unacceptable.
After discovering issues with the BSC Token Hub protocol, which acts as a clearinghouse for cryptocurrency transactions moving across the interconnected parts of the Binance-linked blockchain, BSC stated that it had engineered a chain shutdown. It praised the quick work of the validators. “We are humbled by the speed and collaboration from the community to freeze cash,” read one tweet.
Since then, the chain has resumed operating, and according to BNB Chain, a series of on-chain governance votes will be held to decide whether or not to freeze the funds that were stolen. There will also be a vote on a bug bounty incentive programme to deter future hacks.
After a slow trading day, BSC’s native BNB cryptocurrency, which was shook by the fear of an attack, fell to $280.40 from $293.10, according to CoinMarketCap, which Binance owns.
According to on-chain statistics, an attacker who stole cryptocurrency by employing cross-chain swaps, bridges and borrows made two sizable withdrawals from the BSC token hub this afternoon totaling 1 million BSC tokens each. However, BNB’s Twitter account assured consumers that “all monies are safe” and promised to “assist block any transfers.”
According to Twitter detectives, the main stablecoin provider, Tether, has blocked the offending address, indicating that the business thinks the token transfer was driven by an assault rather than anything more benign.
