Crypto exchange Binance had more than 2 million of its BNB tokens stolen in a hack Thursday night. It's the second-largest exploit in crypto history, worth nearly $570 million based on Friday morning 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 on a crypto debit card in May.
Crypto Theft Rising
Cryptocurrency and blockchain theft is on the rise. More than $1.9 billion in crypto has been stolen through July 2022, compared to $1.2 billion for the same period last year, according to data from crypto research firm Chainalysis. In August, Nomad had more than $190 million stolen from its bridge. And $160 million was stolen from market maker Wintermute at the end of September.
The Poly Network saw the largest exploit in crypto history early last August, when a hacker was able to make off with $611 million in various cryptocurrencies.
You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on Twitter @IBD_Harrison
