BNB Chain-based DeFi protocol LaunchZone loses $700k

BNB Chain-based DeFi protocol LaunchZone claims it lost $700,000 after a hacker drained the funds from its liquidity pool.

Since the attack, the protocol’s native token has been plunging in value. LaunchZone has warned users from buying tokens until they conduct further investigation.

LaunchZone token plunges 80%

LauchZone announced on Twitter that the protocol is under attack and users should refrain from buying the token.

$LZ is being hacked from DND exploiter. The team is handling the situation, please don't buy the token at this stage. Please keep calm. We will update timely. pic.twitter.com/oXk3bFeSJF

— LaunchZone (LZ.finance) (@launchzoneann) February 27, 2023

The message was first posted on their official Telegram group. The company later added that they have paused trading or transferring their token until they handle the situation.

Please be informed that given the current situation, we have decided to pause the trading/transferring of $LZ token until the problems are solved. Thanks for your understanding and please keep updated! pic.twitter.com/CMz4I5V1wb

— LaunchZone (LZ.finance) (@launchzoneann) February 27, 2023

According to LaunchZone, the company has lost $700,000, which hackers stole from the liquidity pool.

Since the attack, the company’s native token, $LZ, dropped by over 80% in hours. The token is currently trading at 0.02634, according to CoinMarketCap.

According to blockchain data from a number of different blockchain explorers, the funds were swapped out through PancakeSwap. (CAKE/USD)

Following the news, decentralized exchange Biswap announced that they would be delisting the $LZ token within five hours due to the hack.

Dear Biswappers,

The $LZ token will be delisted within 5 hours due to its hack by the DND exploiter.

❗️Please, don’t make any $LZ transactions at this stage❗️

📍The @launchzoneann team is handling the situation.
Stay safe with @Biswap_Dex. pic.twitter.com/sDesj4B8za

— Biswap (@Biswap_Dex) February 27, 2023

BNB Chain hacks

Attackers are known to take advantage of a cross-chain exploit. The BNB chain has grappled with its fair share of hacks and exploits over the past year.

The chain lost $100 million worth of cryptocurrency in an exploit in October 2022, resulting in a hard fork.

In February 2023, web3 infrastructure firm Jump Crypto identified a critical vulnerability on the BNB Chain which would allow hackers to mint an unlimited amount of tokens through malicious transfers.

The BNB team fixed the vulnerability before they disclosed it to the public.

An exploit on a cross-chain bridge, BSC Token Hub, resulted in extra BNB. We have asked all validators to temporarily suspend BSC. The issue is contained now. Your funds are safe. We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide further updates accordingly.

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) October 6, 2022

While hackers managed to get away with $100 million, BNB validators said the attack would have been worse with over $500 million stolen.

The attacks are seemingly becoming more sophisticated, and if they were organized, hackers would be able to get more funds from ecosystems than they do.

As the crypto sphere continues facing more attacks on bridges, communities are becoming more vigilant in shutting them down quickly and updating their systems to prevent further losses.