Binance’s BNB Chain has come back online after being suspended earlier in the morning when an exploit was identified, the blockchain announced on Twitter on Friday afternoon in Asia.

See related article: Binance suspends BNB blockchain on potential exploit; Peckshield reports US$572 mln hack

Fast facts

  • Changpeng Zhao, cofounder and chief executive officer of Binance, tweeted earlier today that validators were asked to suspend the blockchain due to an exploit on the BSC Token Hub cross-chain bridge, but assured the safety of user funds.
  • The BNB Chain initially estimated up to US$80 million worth of cryptocurrencies moved off the chain, with around US$7 million frozen, while Zhao said the impact estimate was around US$100 million.
  • Blockchain security firm SlowMist estimated that over US$110 million was moved off the BNB Chain.
  • Sun Huang, chief security officer and general manager of Taipei-based fiat-crypto exchange XREX Inc. told Forkast that the operational suspension of the BNB Chain helped freeze hackers’ flows but this also sparked concerns surrounding “centralization.”
  • For future incidents, BNB Chain said it will organize on-chain governance votes to determine if it should freeze hacked funds and if it should offer a bounty for catching hackers, BNB Chain said in a statement following the incident.
  • BNB was changing hands at US$285.7, down 3% over the past 24 hours at 4:40 p.m. in Hong Kong, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

See related article: Chainalysis says $2 bln stolen in cross-chain bridge hacks this year, more expected