Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao revealed that the company has most of the compromised funds and is ‘narrowing down’ the identity of the hacker.
Crypto exchange Binance is reportedly narrowing down the identity of the hacker behind its $570 million crypto attack. This development comes after the company’s CEO Changpeng Zhao revealed that Binance received a tip from law enforcement. As Zhao put it:
“We’re still actually chasing … helping [authorities] to chase the bad players, working with law enforcement around the globe. Working with law enforcement is one of the ways that we can try to make the space safe. Actually, in this particular instant, law enforcement gave us some tips of who they think it might be. So, we’re actually narrowing down.”
Zhao also stated that Binance prevented most of the funds from leaving the BNB Chain. As Binance gets closer to the hacker’s identity, the platform’s CEO said that “the blockchain was able to freeze about 80% to 90% of it, so the actual loss of it was much smaller.”
The leading crypto exchange limited the damage by suspending activity on its BNB Chain blockchain network after a string of coordinating moves. Binance reportedly coordinated with network validators to institute an upgrade.
Binance Retains Control of Majority of Funds as It Closes in On Hacker Identity
At the time of the hack, Binance’s BNB Chain confirmed in a publication that the vast majority of funds remain under control. However, the publication also specified that it could not recover around $100 million. In light of the attack, the BNB Chain suggested intensifying securities and countermeasures to handle similar future occurrences. The statement, issued on October 7th, read:
“Looking at the broader picture, we have seen a series of attacks on targeting vulnerabilities in cross-chain bridges. We will openly share the details of the postmortem and all lessons on how to implement more advanced security measures to shore-up these vulnerabilities.”
Binance also added that “a new on-chain governance mechanism will be introduced on the BNB Chain to fight and defend future possible attacks.”
Despite the setbacks from cross-chain hacks, BNB Chain stated that the number of community validators would continue to expand in the move toward further decentralization. According to the platform, this is crucial for the future of Web3.
Amid the theft of 2 million BNB tokens, worth $570 million at the time, more than $1 billion has already been lost to cross-chain breaches this year. Cross-chain bridges are the most vulnerable because they facilitate the swift transfer of tokens from one blockchain platform to another. Although bridges have proven to be an instrumental component in the DeFi space, their underlying codes sometimes pose little resistance to ardent hackers. This may explain why such protocols are usually open to offering Whitehat incentives and bounties to those who can recover said funds.
BNB Chain
Originally referred to as Binance Chain, the BNB Chain was first developed by the prominent crypto exchange in 2019. As with other networks, it has its own native token, BNB, which is tradable in games and other applications.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
