Hacker Loses $60M in Collateral After Enormous BNB Theft

• BNB hacker involved in the theft of nearly $600 million last year has lost funds of $60 million in collateral on the Venus Protocol’s borrowing and lending platform.
• A surge in bond yields caused a catastrophic drop in digital asset values, leading to liquidation of the pledged assets.
• This incident underscores vulnerabilities within the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector due to lack of smart contract audits.

BNB Hacker Involved in Enormous Theft

A hacker who was involved in a massive theft of nearly $600 million worth of BNB last year has lost funds amounting to $60 million as collateral on Venus Protocol’s borrowing and lending platform. Security firm PeckShield first reported this extensive collateral liquidation. The hacker had pledged stolen funds as collateral to secure a substantial loan through Venus Protocol.

Sudden Surge Causes Collateral Liquidation

The sudden surge in bond yields within the past 24 hours caused a catastrophic drop in digital asset values, thus rendering the loan undercollateralized and forcing the liquidation of pledged assets. As the value of BNB dropped below $220, Venus Protocol’s smart contracts automatically initiated a liquidation process which resulted in three loans worth $148 million being liquidated. The hacker had initially deposited 900,000 BNB ($198 million) as collateral to borrow various stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, and BUSD from Venus Protocol’s platform.

DeFi Vulnerabilities Exposed

The individual or group responsible for this heist remains unidentified; however, this attack is similar to other incidents from 2022 attributed to Lazarus—a North Korean cybercrime group believed to be funneling their proceeds into government nuclear programs. This incident further highlights vulnerabilities within DeFi sectors due to lack of smart contract audits which can be exploited by malicious actors who can access locked funds easily without warning. Furthermore, centralized nature bridges offer limited containment when responding to breaches like these compared to traditional margin trading which relies on broker advice for prevention from positions falling below minimum threshold limits set by protocols.

Proactive Response From Binance

Following last year’s attack on their bridge protocol, Binance took proactive steps by suspending withdrawals and deposits related to all tokens involved with it until further notice for security reasons while also launching an investigation into it along with law enforcement agencies around the world. These measures are aimed at preventing any similar attacks from happening again while also minimizing its impact where possible through better security practices going forward.

Conclusion

This recent attack serves as a reminder that DeFi platforms remain vulnerable despite their convenience if proper security protocols are not followed properly or implemented at all times while dealing with digital assets such as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum. It is up to users and developers alike ensure that they remain vigilant when using these platforms so that they don’t fall prey to malicious actors looking exploit them for their own gain at others‘ expense!