Following an exploitation on a cross-chain bridge, BSC Token Hub, validators were asked to temporarily suspend BNB Smart Chain. The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao confirmed the development in his Friday Twitter post. According to Zhao, the exploitation which targeted millions of dollars on the BSC token hub resulted in extra BNB.
Meanwhile, speculations on Twitter insisted that the network witnessed a significant hack, with on-chain analytics showing alleged attackers exploiting over two million BNB, the native token of the chain. According to the initial on-chain analysis, the exploiter siphoned one million BNB reward using the token hub.
Afterward, the fellow proceeded to deposit the balance into the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform Venus Protocol. Shortly after, the exploiter, again, borrowed $150 million worth of stablecoins spread across USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT), and Binance USD (BUSD) via cross-chain bridges. This thus allow the hacker to swap the tokens for Ether (ETH), Phantom Protocol (PHM) tokens and Polygon (MATIC) before the BNB Chain became suspended. Again, the hacker reportedly exploited another one million BNB. As reported, the exploited token became placed into Stargate Protocol, another cross-chain bridge provider.
The strategy lead of DeFi platform Vesper Finance, Zane Huffman, affirmed that the exploiter made away roughly $100 million through an initial exploit of $600 million. According to Huffman, the exploiter sees roughly $400 million worth of digital assets frozen on the BNB Chain. Also, Stablecoin provider, Tether took a bold step by blacklisting the address fingered in the exploit. This thus indicates that the stablecoin provider suspected a connection with the tokens movement and the exploit on BNB.
Value of the exploits amounts to over $100 million – BNB chain
BNB Chain, in its own post confirmed the potential exploit on the token hub. According to its developer, the initial estimates for the value of the exploit falls between $100 million and $110 million. However, it confirmed the freezing of about roughly $7 million frozen from the exploited funds.This development, according to BNB Chain, informed its decision to temporarily pause the BSC. Reacting to the exploit, Binance also noted that the Blockchain was going through maintenance, thereby halting all deposits and withdrawals. In a later update, it says the issue has now been contained and users funds are safe.
Meanwhile, as of 07:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), operations have resumed on the BNB Chain. However, its developer promised to investigate the vulnerability. The protocol, however, apologized “for the inconvenience” and promise to provide further updates accordingly.
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