BNB Chain Bridge
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 16 → 51. Problems weighed by who is responsible: incidents the subject suffered −6.4, concerns that are not fraud −6.4, problems around the subject, caused by others −0.8; fact-check adjustments (−12) now shown as page reliability, not in the score. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| Concerns that are not fraud | -6.4 |
| Incidents it suffered (e.g. hacks) | -6.4 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -0.8 |
| Sum | 51 |
Score: 51/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
The BSC Token Hub, BNB Chain's cross-chain bridge connecting BNB Beacon Chain and BNB Smart Chain, was exploited on October 6, 2022 via a forged IAVL Merkle proof that allowed an attacker to mint approximately 2 million BNB valued at roughly $566–570 million. Rapid validator coordination halted the chain and froze most funds on BSC, limiting the attacker's realized gain to an estimated $137 million, though the incident exposed deep structural centralization concerns about BNB Smart Chain's 21-validator Proof of Staked Authority model.
Connected Entities
12 entities · 60 linked investigations- Optimism→mentioned with→Arbitrum(65%)
- Optimism→mentioned with→Ethereum(80%)
- Binance→mentioned with→Tether(60%)
- Fantom (Sonic Labs)→mentioned with→Binance(60%)
- BNB Chain Bridge→mentioned with→Wormhole(60%)
- BNB Chain Bridge→mentioned with→Arbitrum(60%)
- Binance→mentioned with→Ethereum(65%)
- BNB Chain Bridge→mentioned with→Binance(70%)
- BNB Chain Bridge→mentioned with→Polygon(60%)
- BNB Chain Bridge→mentioned with→Tether(65%)
- + 24 more
Connected Through
11 shared actors · 597 investigationsDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- □Ethereumorganization
- □Binanceorganization
- □Arbitrumorganization
- □Polygonorganization
Timeline(9 events)
6 October 2022
Attacker executes two transactions of 1 million BNB each via a forged IAVL Merkle proof on the BSC Token Hub bridge, minting approximately 2 million BNB (~$566–570 million).
6 October 2022
BNB Chain contacts all 44 active validators and requests they suspend block production on BNB Smart Chain to prevent further fund movement.
6 October 2022
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao publicly confirms the exploit on Twitter, states the issue is contained and user funds are safe.
7 October 2022
BNB Smart Chain resumes operations with a hotfix. Tether and Circle blacklist the attacker's addresses, freezing $33.5 million combined in USDT and USDC.
7 October 2022
Post-incident analysis confirms approximately $137 million was moved to other chains before the halt, with roughly $430 million remaining frozen on BSC.
11 October 2022
BNB Chain announces a scheduled hard fork for October 12 to permanently patch the cross-chain bridge vulnerability.
12 October 2022
BNB Chain hard fork (client v1.1.15) executed at 08:00 UTC, patching the IAVL proof verification flaw and re-enabling the cross-chain bridge.
13 October 2022
Cosmos SDK releases coordinated security disclosures for the 'Dragonfruit' and 'Dragonberry' bugs affecting all IBC-enabled chains using the same IAVL library.
6 February 2023
BNB Chain's Planck hard fork implements BEP-171, introducing permanent security enhancements including ICS23 proof verification, transfer time-locks, and emergency channel-pause mechanisms.
Decision Log
- slot 455368247 · hash 5rtbp1gNFE8doqYdt3o54zv8TsrTJPudqYQLDoPBQsrM
- slot 426269095 · hash DGUKE2AE3wRFBuPHnwKxKdeYzpFi1iqazN6B6txCptCg
- slot 426269092 · hash 4c6uZXzT9HUccofebXLeuZCKRyL4uVCX61ySQu8YDEsX
- slot 423210378 · hash 4BwZkzn8giT8qRVfhsctJBtjv1yqCwtiiUa5fFcmgUE3
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (4 decisions). 16 of 18 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/30/2026, 6:25:01 PM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:48:26 PM
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