The sudden market downturn in the crypto space has led to the liquidation of many investors’ funds, and the notorious attackers responsible for the infamous BNB Smart Chain exploit, which resulted in the theft of approximately $600 million worth of BNB, lost $50 million of the assets they acquired during the drop on the night of August 18, according to on-chain data on the BNB Smart Chain ecosystem.
Stolen Assets Liquidated
On October 6, 2022, the cross-chain bridge of the BNB Smart Chain blockchain network was suspended due to an exploit that allowed hackers to escape with approximately 2 million BNB tokens worth $568 million during the theft.
According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, collateral worth more than $53 million from a crypto wallet associated with this exploit was liquidated on the Venus Protocol crypto lending platform on August 18. It appears that the hacker used the tokens as collateral for a $30 million Tether loan.
Amounts Lost in Numbers
According to crypto asset price data analysis platforms, the entire crypto market experienced a 6% decline on August 18, causing the overall market value to drop to $1.1 trillion. According to market data analysis tracker CoinGlass, this event led to the liquidation of over $1 billion worth of crypto positions in the past 24 hours.
The BNB Smart Chain hackers were also affected by the drop as the price of BNB fell below $220. According to blockchain data, three positions linked to the attackers’ wallets were automatically liquidated after the price dropped. Currently, BNB is trading at $218 per token.
While many suffered losses due to the significant drop in the market, investors who made spot purchases managed to minimize their losses. Days before the crash, a crypto whale sold 22,341 Ethereum, preventing a potential loss of over $5 million on an asset worth approximately $41 million. However, the crypto investor still incurred a loss of around $1.7 million in this transaction.
