Crypto hacked again in $100 million theft of Binance-backed blockchain

An already bad year for cryptocurrencies took another turn for the worse after roughly $100 million of Binance Coin was stolen in what appears to be the latest hack to hit digital assets.

An exploit occurred on a bridge between blockchains and the issue is “contained now,” Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, billionaire co-founder of Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, said on Twitter on Friday.

An exploit on a cross-chain bridge, BSC Token Hub, resulted in extra BNB. 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.

— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) October 6, 2022

A spokesperson for Binance-backed blockchain BNB Chain estimated the incident involved $100 million to $110 million of digital tokens. At least $7 million of stolen funds has already been frozen, the spokesperson added. The bridge, BSC Token Hub, has been suspended.

About $2 billion has been lost in crypto hacks this year, many perpetrated by North Korea-linked groups. Cross-chain bridges used to transfer tokens across blockchains have been a popular target.

The Binance ecosystem is among the highest profile to be buffeted. Zhao said on Twitter that “in all likelihood, Binance will cover any fund that the hackers get away with.”

BNB Chain said it’s working with security services to freeze transfers of stolen funds. Binance Coin, also known as BNB, fell as much as 3.3% on Friday and was trading around $285 as of 10:08 a.m. in Tokyo.

The crypto sector has been pummeled both by hacks and a deep rout that’s wiped some $2 trillion off the value of digital assets.

The wider crypto markets took the latest developments in their stride. Bitcoin was little changed at around $20,000.