A blockchain linked to Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been hit by a $570 million digital attack, a Binance spokesperson said Friday.
Binance Chief Executive Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet that the tokens were stolen from a blockchain “bridge” used on the BNB Chain, which was known as the Binance Smart Chain until February.
Blockchain bridges are tools used to transfer cryptocurrencies between different applications.
Zhao said the hackers stole around $100 million worth of cryptocurrencies. BNB Chain later said in a blog post that a total of 2 million BNB cryptocurrencies — worth around $570 million — were withdrawn by the hacker.
A Binance spokesperson stated in emailed comments that “the majority” of BNB remained at the hacker’s digital wallet address, while about $100 million “was not recovered.”
Blockchain bridges have increasingly become the target of attacks, which have long plagued the cryptocurrency industry.
BNB Chain supports the cryptocurrency BNB, formerly known as Binance Coin, the fifth largest token in the world with a market cap of around $46 billion, according to data from CoinGecko.
About $2 billion worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen in 13 different bridge attacks, most of them in 2022, cryptocurrency analytics firm Chainalysis said in August.
BNB Chain said it suspended its blockchain for several hours before resuming at around 3:30 am ET.
BNB Chain further claimed in a blog post that it was “able to prevent the incident from spreading” by contacting blockchain “validators” — entities or individuals who verify transactions.
On the Binance website, BNB Chain is described as a “community-driven, open-source and decentralized ecosystem”.
Source: CNN Brasil
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