Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao told CNBC on Monday that the cryptocurrency exchange is getting closer to identifying the hacker responsible for a $570 million hack on the BNB blockchain.
In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe,” Zhao said that Binance is “narrowing down” the identity of the hacker or hackers responsible for the attack after receiving information from law enforcement.
A so-called cross-chain bridge was compromised as part of the attack, allowing a yet-to-be-identified hacker or hackers to steal about $570 million worth of BNB tokens from Binance’s exchange.
Chainalysis data shows that more than $1 billion has been stolen from cross-chain bridges so far this year.
Bridges have become a popular target for hackers in the DeFi community because their core code has flaws that make them easy to hack.
Zhao said, “We’re still actually chasing… helping [authorities] to chase the bad players, working with law enforcement around the globe. Working with law enforcement is one of the ways that we can try to make the space safe. ”
He continued, “Actually, in this particular instant, law enforcement gave us some tips of who they think it might be. So we’re narrowing it down. ”
Binance took steps to mitigate the impact of the attack. It shut down the BNB Chain blockchain network, along with network validators, to allow for an upgrade.
Zhao (CZ) stated in an online forum that BNB Chain had successfully prevented the hacker from stealing most of the funds.
The actual amount lost was “substantially less” because “the blockchain was able to freeze about 80% to 90% of it,” he explained. Binance’s BNB Chain said in a statement at the time of the hack that most of the funds remain under control.” BNB noted that about $100 million was lost forever.
Binance launched the BNB Chain in 2019. The native token, BNB, can be traded or used in games and other applications, much like tokens on other blockchains.
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