Binance Halts BNC Chain After a Hacker Stole Up to Possibly $600 Million

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Photo by Vadim Artyukhin on Unsplash

In the latest in a string of major crypto-related thefts, BNB Chain was forced to halt transactions after the blockchain with ties to the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, suffered what it called a "potential exploit" in which hackers could have stolen up to around $600 million from the bridge.

Initial token movements suggested that the attacker targeted up to two million BSC tokens, but the actual losses may be much lower. BNB Chain estimated $100 million to $110 million in assets were moved off-chain but said in a tweet that $7 million was already frozen.

BSC confirmed that it coordinated a shutdown of the chain after spotting issues with the BSC Token Hub protocol, the clearinghouse for crypto transactions moving between the Binance-linked blockchain's interlocking parts. It thanked validators for moving quickl…