Binance honing in on BSC Token Hub hacker: CNBC

Quick Take

  • Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao told CNBC that the cryptocurrency exchange is “narrowing down” the identity of those responsible for early October’s BSC Token Hub cross-chain bridge exploit.
  • Binance claims to be “working with law enforcement around the globe.”

Binance is "narrowing down" the individual or group behind the BSC Token Hub cross-chain bridge exploit that saw a loss of approximately $570 million earlier this month, the crypto exchange's CEO, Changpeng Zhao, told CNBC.

Binance's search is being aided by law enforcement. “We’re still actually chasing … helping [authorities] to chase the bad players, working with law enforcement around the globe,” Zhao told the business news channel. “Working with law enforcement is one of the ways that we can try to make the space safe.”

Zhao also noted that, "in this particular instant, law enforcement gave us some tips of who they think it might be," claiming "we’re actually narrowing down.”

The exploit itself occured on a cross-chain bridge, or a bridge that allows cryptocurrency users to transfer their crypto assets to different blockchains. During the event, Zhao asked validators to temporarily suspend BSC.

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Coordination between validators and the updating of node operators ultimately contained the issue.

Binance is the leading cryptocurrency exchange by volume, by a large margin, for both spot and derivatives trading — according to data from The Block Research.


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Adam is the managing editor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is based in central Europe and was a managing editor and podcast host at the crypto exchange OKX's former research arm, OKX Insights. Before that, he co-founded BeInCrypto.com, which he elevated into one of the leading crypto media brands at its peak as the editor-in-chief. Earlier, he served as the editor-in-chief at Bitcoinist.com. Before joining the blockchain and crypto industry, he worked for Looper.com, Grunge.com and SVG.com. He tweets via @XBT002 and can be emailed at [email protected].

Editor

To contact the editor of this story:
Lucy Harley-McKeown at
[email protected]