Binance BNB Chain hacked – $570 Millions of Cryptos Stolen

Binance Holding, a world largest ranked by trade volume. Its blockchain named BNB Chain is under threat actors’ purview, were cryptocurrencies worth $570 million was stolen

Binance disclosed that hackers had stolen 2 million BNB coins, worth about $570 million, from the BNB Chain. The hackers stole the cryptocurrency using a security vulnerability in a cross-chain bridge ‘BSC Token Hub’ connected to the BNB Chain. A cross-chain bridge is a technology that allows users to transfer cryptocurrency, other digital assets, and data between two different blockchains.

It connects the BNB Chain with the BNB Beacon Chain, a similar blockchain that makes it possible to carry out transactions using the BEP2 digital asset technology. BEP2 defines a set of technical standards for implementing and issuing digital assets.

The security flaw was reportedly found in the cross-chain bridge’s smart contract feature. A smart contract is a software tool that makes it possible to carry out transactions automatically without manual input. The hackers reportedly didn’t steal user funds, but rather used the smart contract feature to mint 2 million new BNB coins.

Binance temporarily paused transaction processing on the BNB Chain. The company reportedly managed to freeze $7 million of the funds stolen by the hackers. Most of the remaining funds currently remain in the hackers’ cryptocurrency wallet, while about $100 million is unrecovered.

BNB Chain as a part of governance, will roll out a new mechanism to prevent similar attacks happening in the future. Additionally, it plans to add more validators, the term for the organizations or individuals tasked with verifying transactions on a blockchain. BNC Chain currently has 44 validators.