Binance Probes a Crypto Exploit That All But Wiped Out a Token on Ankr Service

This year’s long list of crypto security exploits targeting decentralized finance has another unwelcome entry.

More than $3 billion has been hacked from the crypto sector so far in 2022. (Reuters)

This year's long list of crypto security exploits targeting decentralized finance has another unwelcome entry.

Binance, the largest digital-asset exchange, said Friday it's helping to probe an attack on a token offered by the Ankr protocol. The token, aBNBc, is now almost worthless after trading at about $300 a day ago.

The aBNBc token had derived its value in part from a link to Binance Coin and was intended to give holders of the latter ways of earning returns.

About $123 million of assets are deposited on the Ankr protocol, according to its website. Ankr said it was working with exchanges to stop trading of the affected coin.

Blockchain security specialist PeckShield Inc. said on Twitter the attacker may have exploited a software bug to mint vast amounts of the token before rushing to convert them into other coins to make away with the digital swag.

More than $3 billion has been hacked from the crypto sector so far in 2022, which is on course to be a record year for exploits involving digital assets, according to blockchain specialist Chainalysis.

The attacks add to woes from a yearlong rout in Bitcoin and other tokens alongside high-profile blowups at crypto firms such as the FTX exchange.