Binance-Backed BNB Smart Chain Paused Over Potential Multi-Million Dollar Exploit, Token Slides 4%

On Thursday, 6:19 p.m. (ET), the official Twitter account for the Bnb Smart Chain explained that the team was temporarily pausing the blockchain, after citing that it noticed irregular activity. Sources say that more than $600 million in Bnb tokens were reportedly stolen from the chain’s cross-chain bridge. The Bnb Smart Chain team detailed on Reddit that funds “taken off BSC are between $100M – $110M.”

Bnb Smart Chain Temporarily Pauses Amid Hack Rumors

The crypto token BNB is down 4% lower against the U.S. dollar during the last 24 hours following an alleged cross-chain bridge attack that saw around two million BNB worth $600 million siphoned. Reports further noted that “Tether blacklisted the account” and it pushed Binance to pause the entire chain.

Through the official Bnb Smart Chain Twitter account, the team announced the chain pause. “Due to irregular activity, we’re temporarily pausing BSC. We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide further updates here. Thank you for your patience and understanding,” the account said at 6:19 p.m. The official Bnb Smart Chain Twitter account added:

To confirm, we have suspended BSC after having determined a potential exploit. All systems are now contained, and we are immediately investigating the potential vulnerability. We know the Community will assist and help freeze any transfers. All funds are safe. We want to thank all node service providers for their quick and attentive response.

At the time of writing, there’s a lot of speculation surrounding the attack. “Before the hack, the Bnb bridge exploiter registered as a relayer for this bridge,” one person wrote. “Several hundred million dollar BNB hack reported,” Will Clemente tweeted on Thursday. “The team has just announced a temporary pause of Binance Smart Chain. Wow.”

The Twitter account operated by Green Jeff Capital summarized the situation. At the end of the thread, he noted that the attackers may get around $100 million when all is said and done.

“The attacker’s next moves will probably pull [ethereum] out of bridges back to mainnet and then [Tornado Cash]. They have around $45 million in [ethereum] on mainnet, another $20 million in bridges (Avalanche and Fantom official),” Green Jeff tweeted. “With overcollateralized [ethereum] borrows, they may get $100mm max.”

At 7:51 p.m. (ET), Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, commonly known as “CZ,” tweeted about the affair. “An exploit on a cross-chain bridge, BSC Token Hub, resulted in extra BNB,” CZ said. “We have asked all validators to temporarily suspend BSC. The issue is contained now. Your funds are safe. We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide further updates accordingly.”

Bnb Smart Chain’s team explained on Reddit that the estimate for the exploit loss is around $100 to $110 million. “Initial estimates for funds taken off BSC are between $100M – $110M,” the Reddit post explains. “However, thanks to the community and our internal and external security partners, an estimated $7M has already been frozen.”

Some Redditors questioned the veracity of the numbers stemming from the Bnb Smart Chain exploit Reddit announcement, and others criticized the BNB chain’s decentralization. The exploit has been a topical conversation on social media sites like Reddit and Twitter since the Bnb Smart Chain bridge exploit was first noticed.