Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is getting closer to revealing the identity of a hacker who orchestrated a $570 million hack of its BNB blockchain, CEO Changpeng Zhao told CNBC on Monday.
After receiving several tips from law enforcement about who the hacker might be, Binance is now “narrowing down” the person or persons behind the attack, Zhao said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”
The attack in question targeted a so-called cross-chain bridge, allowing an as-yet-unknown hacker or hackers to withdraw 2 million of Binance’s BNB tokens worth around $570 million at the time.
More than $1 billion has been lost to breaches in cross-chain bridges so far this year, tools that facilitate the rapid transfer of tokens from one blockchain platform to another, according to data from Chainalysis.
Popular in the world of DeFi, or decentralized finance, bridges have become a hot target for criminals due to flaws in their underlying code.
“We are still following … helping [authorities] to go after bad players, working with law enforcement around the globe,” Zhao said. “Working with law enforcement is one of the ways we can try to make space safe.”
“Actually, at this particular time, law enforcement gave us some tips as to who they think it might be. So we’re actually narrowing it down.”
Binance stepped in to limit the damage of the attack, halting activity on its BNB blockchain network, after coordinating with the network’s validators — individuals and entities that sign transaction approvals — to approve an upgrade.
Zhao, who is commonly referred to as “CZ” online, said this meant BNB Chain was able to prevent most of the targeted funds from being taken by the hacker.
“Blockchain was able to freeze about 80% to 90% of it, so its actual loss was much less,” he said.
“The vast majority of funds remain under control,” Binance’s BNB chain said in a statement at the time of the hack. About $100 million was irrecoverable, BNB Chain added.
BNB Chain, originally known as Binance Chain, was first developed by Binance in 2019. Like other blockchains, it contains a native token, called BNB, that can be traded or used in games and applications others.
