Binance Smart Chain (now BNB Chain), the Binance network, has been hit by an exploit. According to the statements made afterwards, the network was temporarily paused. Here are the details…
Hack alert on Binance network
BNB Chain’s official Twitter account was first temporarily paused due to “irregular activity” on the blockchain. However, he soon added that this was due to a possible exploit. Binance has provided an update that Blockchain is “under maintenance” and is suspending all deposits and withdrawals.
To confirm, we have suspended BSC after having determined a potential exploit.
All systems are now contained, and we are immediately investigating the potential vulnerability. We know the Community will assist and help freeze any transfers.
All funds are safe.
— BNB Chain (@BNBCHAIN) October 6, 2022
The rumors started earlier on Twitter with a tweet from blockchain security firm PeckShield. PeckShield noted that the network has suffered a significant attack. He stated that on-chain analysis showed that the attackers stole about $600 million worth of BNB.
Hi, @BNBCHAIN Apparently, two huge reward claims
with each claiming 1M BNB and in total ~$586M rewards are claimed from its token hub. (https://t.co/mMg8o0u7fj) https://t.co/FxRHDdvuPg pic.twitter.com/GSrLSSyRNR— PeckShield Inc. (@peckshield) October 6, 2022
BNB Chain stated that the exploit on the BSC Token Hub led to the creation of “extra BNB”. But he said their system was under control. While continuing to investigate the vulnerability, he made a statement that user funds are safe.
Hacker transferred what he stole to 7 altcoins
Looking at the hacker’s wallet labeled “BNB Bridge Exploiter”, it is seen that he transferred $53 million of the stolen funds to the largest altcoin Ethereum. On the other hand, $399,895 is in Polygon (MATIC) network and $48.8 million is in Phantom (FTM). $3.3 million in Avalanche (AVAX), $1.1 million in Arbitrum and $1.1 million in Optimism (OP). According to on-chain analysis, the attacker used the cross-chain bridge protocol Stargate to export assets.
Binance made the statement shortly after advising users on the exploit. “Thanks to our community and security partners, an estimated $7 million was frozen,” he said. The BNB Chain hack seems to write its name in history with the large scale of the attack. As we reported as Kriptokoin.com, the $ 625 million Axie Infinity Ronin Bridge exploit took place in March. The BNB Chain exploit looks set to be the second largest hack in the industry, after Axie Infinity.
What is the latest status?
As a result, Zane Huffman, the strategy leader of DeFi platform Vesper Finance, concluded that the attacker made about $100 million out of $600 million. Huffman stated that the attacker had over $400 million in cryptocurrencies frozen on BNB Chain in his wallet. He added that more likely assets are trapped in cross-chain bridges on the side of the BNB Blockchain. The wallet has been blacklisted in case the attacker converts its assets to Tether (USDT).
The attackers next moves will probably to pull ETH out of bridges back to mainnet and then tornado. They have about around $45 million in ETH on mainnet, another $20 million in bridges (Avalanche and Fantom official).
With overcollateralized ETH borrows, they may get $100mm max
— GREEN JEFF (The Bread #9) (@jeffthedunker) October 6, 2022
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