Transactions on the Binance blockchain, also known as the BNB Chain and the Binance Smart Chain, were halted today after a potential mining activity in the network was detected due to a spike in “abnormal activity” variable. Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, said on Twitter that the issue was related to the BSC Token Hub, a cross-chain bridge. These allow the transfer of digital assets and information from one independent blockchain to another. “The issue has been resolved now. Your money is safe,” Zhao wrote, apologizing for the inconvenience.
BSC Token Hub is used to facilitate cross-chain transactions between BNB Beacon Chain and Binance Smart Chain. As a result, mining resulted in the loss of additional Binance Coin (BNB). However, all validators on the network have been asked to suspend the Binance smart chain. While users are still worried about their funds, CZ insists that all funds are safe and that the public will be updated with more details in the future.
Mining on a cross-chain bridge, BSC Token Hub, resulted in additional BNB. We have asked all validators to temporarily suspend BSC. The problem has been resolved now. Your money is safe. We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide additional updates accordingly.
– CZ Binance (@cz_binance) October 6, 2022
Two hours before Zhao’s tweet, Binance official Twitter account wrote BNB Chain is under maintenance and sorry for the inconvenience. Binance wrote: “We will be suspending all deposits and withdrawals via BNB Chain until further updates are available.
In addition, Binance Confirmed on Reddit that an initial $100 million (approximately 823.5 crore) to $110 million (approximately 906 crore) fund was transferred from BNB Chain. However, following an alarming response from security officials and community members, Binance confirmed that funds worth $7 million (approximately Rs 57.6 crore) have been frozen.
According to blockchain security firm SlowMist, the mining allowed cybercriminals to take away more than $570 million (about 4694.5 crore) of digital assets, including Ether, Polygon, BNB, avalanche, Fantom, Arbitrum and Optimism. “Attackers are spewing funds through liquidity pools and leveraging every bridge they can to more secure chains,” blockchain developer @0xfoobar tweeted, adding that there was “chaos” entirely on-chain.”
The final total value associated with the hack is yet to be determined.
