Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao told CNBC news outlets on Monday that the cryptocurrency exchange is getting closer to identifying the identity of a hacker or hackers who staged a $570 million attack on its blockchain. BNB earlier this month.

In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday, Zhao said that after getting some advice from law enforcement agencies about who the hackers might be, Binance is now “restricting” the person or persons who facilitated the attack.

The attack occurred on a cross-chain bridge where users transfer digital assets from one blockchain to another, allowing the unknown hacker(s) to withdraw 2 million Binance BNB tokens worth about $570 million at the time.

Zhao said, “We are still chasing…helping [authorities] to go after bad players, working with law enforcement around the world. Working with law enforcement is one of the ways we can try to make the space safe.”

The CEO said that law enforcement has given Binance some tips on who they think might be behind the attack, and now the exchange is “winding down.”

On October 7, a cross-chain bridge linking to BNB Chain (Binance Chain) was attacked, allowing hackers to move BNB tokens off the network.

During that time, Zhao said that Binance stepped in to limit the damage from the attack, suspending all transaction processing activities on its BNB Chain blockchain network after coordinating with network validators, entities or individuals who confirm transactions. on the blockchain.

Zhao said that with the intervention, BNB Chain was able to prevent the hacker from stealing most of the selected funds. “The blockchain was able to freeze 80% to 90%, so the actual loss was much less,” the CEO said.

The firm coordinated with BNB Chain validators to roll out an update. And that meant that most of the funds remained in the exploiter’s crypto wallet, while around $100 million was not recovered.

The Binance hack was the latest in a series of major attacks targeting cross-chain bridges. According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, approximately $1.4 billion has been stolen due to cross-chain bridges since early 2022.

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