Crypto Exchange Binance Suffered Second-Biggest Hack Ever

Binance Hack

Binance had over 2 million BNB tokens stolen in a hack on Thursday night. It was the second-biggest exploit in crypto history, worth nearly $570 million based on Friday morning’s prices.

The hacker exploited a vulnerability in the Binance Bridge, which connects blockchain networks, to send themselves 1 million BNB tokens twice in two transactions.

In response to the hack, the BNB Network was paused before being completely halted last night. But it’s now up and running again as of early Friday.

Luckily, many of the funds were quickly frozen and the hacker only managed to transfer a little over $110 million off Binance’s BNB Chain, security firm SlowMist said.

Binance is the biggest crypto exchange by volume, according to CoinMarketCap data. It’s expanding its international reach, with new approvals in New Zealand and Kazakhstan earlier this week. The company is also pushing for digital asset adoption and partnered with Visa (V) on a crypto debit card in May.

Crypto Hack Increasing

Crypto and blockchain hack is on the rise. According to cryptocurrency research firm Chainalysis, more than $1.9 billion of cryptocurrency was stolen as of July 2022, compared to $1.2 billion a year earlier. In August, more than $190 million was stolen from Nomad’s bridge. And in late September, market maker Wintermute had $160 million stolen.