By
Mayowa Adebajo
April 25th, 2024
BNB Chain confirms that normalcy has now been restored and everything is back to running smoothly.
Binance Smart Chain (BSC), the blockchain of popular crypto exchange Binance, was temporarily halted on Thursday after its cross-chain bridge was hit by an exploit attack. According to the announcement, the attackers were able to drain an estimated $100 million worth of crypto assets.
Binance Smart Chain Tokens Stolen
Binance Smart Chain says the attacker might have intended to siphon hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto. However, BNB’s fast decision to halt the chain was enough to stop the attackers in their track and limit the damage.
The attack saw two token movements of 1 million BSC tokens each, out of the BSC token hub. That was worth about $600 million at the time the attack took place.
But even before any official announcements came to the fore, early on-chain analysis by Twitter users suggested that the attacker first claimed a one million BNB reward via the BSC token hub. The attacker then deposited that balance into lending platform Venus Protocol.
Following this, the attacker then borrowed different stablecoins worth around $150 million in total. And then withdrew part of the funds to different networks including Ethereum, Polygon, and Fantom.
The second 1 million BNB was moved into another cross-chain provider, Stargate Protocol. But overall, BNB Chain believes that the loss was no more than $100 million. It even said in a tweet that about $7 million of the stolen fund was already frozen. It then thanked validators for their part in ensuring that more assets were not lost. BNB Chain wrote:
“We are humbled by the speed and collaboration from the community to freeze funds.”
The appreciation is especially understandable given how blockchains are built on a decentralized concept. This means that they operate beyond the control of a single individual, which is why shutting down the chain required a community effort.
Nonetheless, BNB Chain confirms that normalcy has now been restored and everything is running smoothly. Moments ago, it wrote in part:
“BNB Smart Chain (BSC) is running ok. The validators are confirming their status and the community infrastructure are upgrading as well.”
BNB Token Falls
As expected, the attack took a toll on BSC’s native BNB token, albeit immediately. After a day of insignificant activity, the token is down 3%, per CoinMarketCap data and as of publication, is trading at $285.