Binance Chain hacked for 2 million BNB

A hacker has exploited Binance’s Binance cross-chain bridge for 2 million BNB (around $566 million).

The Binance Chain was suspended for a few hours so that Binance could take control of the situation.

Despite the attack, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, has assured Binance users that their funds are secure.

Binance Chain hacked

The hacker found a flaw in Binance’s cross-chain bridge and requested 2 million BNB tokens. After acquiring the tokens, the hacker attempted to cash out via numerous DeFi bridges and transferred some of the tokens to other blockchains.

Following the hack, Binance halted the Binance Chain and Binance bridge to control the situation and to find out what happened.

On Reddit, Binance thanked multiple DeFi platforms including Neptune, MathWallet, Ankr and Coinbase Cloud for their assistance during the hack.

From Reddit:

Initial estimates for funds taken off BSC are between $100M - $110M. However, thanks to the community and our internal and external security partners, an estimated $7M has already been frozen.

Hours later, the bridge was resumed and the Binance Chain was processing transactions again. Binance’s CEO apologised to Binance users for halting the blockchain and affirmed that everyone’s funds were safe.

Binance Chain's centralisation

Following the hack, Binance’s BNB token fell over 4%. Many traders were disappointed that Binance halted the chain and criticised Binance Chain’s centralisation.

Binance’s centralisation of its BNB chain has been brought up by Binance sceptics many times in the past.

Traders who hate Binance's centralised structure tend to avoid using its services, including their exchange, and instead use decentralised blockchains such as Ethereum, Cardano, and Solana.

Some Solana users prefer to use FTX exchange, led by Sam Bankman-Fried who has strong connections to the Solana blockchain and the SOL token.

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