Binance Hackers Minted $569 Million in Crypto – Then Things Got Complicated
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Another day, another massive hack in the cryptocurrency industry. But this one is strange.
Binance revealed on Friday that unidentified hackers were able to exploit a flaw in the company’s BNB Chain crypto token, allowing them to mint 2 million of the company’s decentralized tokens worth a total of $569 million. This money was not actually stolen from Binance, in other words, but rather fabricated out of thin air thanks to a flaw in the security of Binance’s cryptocurrency. But the hack nevertheless appeared to flood the market with BNB and thereby reduce its value to legitimate owners, while allowing the hackers to walk away with half a billion dollars.
Unfortunately for these hackers, even they didn’t seem prepared for the sudden downturn. Cryptocurrency tracking firm Elliptic found that they were quickly trading away a fraction of their tokens for a variety of other cryptocurrencies. It allowed them to raise around $53 million in Ethereum-based tokens. But other cryptocurrencies that they traded BNB for, like Tether and USDC, are more centralized, so the funds can be frozen. Binance, meanwhile, managed to temporarily shut down the BNB blockchain to prevent the hackers’ newly mined currency from moving on. “So we have a very sophisticated exploit, which manages to make $569 million,” says Elliptical Research Director Thibaud Madelin. “But what followed was a complete hoot, to be honest.”
