- BNB Chain’s “red alarm list” identifies high-risk projects and DApps considered risky investments based purely on smart contract assessment
- The addition of 191 new projects on the list was updated due to suspicious practices such as fake tokens, high or opaque tax fees, and non-functional websites or Twitter handles.
- BNB Chain’s proactive approach to protecting investors’ interests underscores its commitment to strengthening the blockchain ecosystem.
Binance-backed blockchain, BNB Chain, has recently issued a “red alarm list” alerting investors of high-risk, decentralized applications (DApps) and projects currently hosted on the blockchain. The red alert list, updated every Friday, identifies projects and DApps considered risky investments based purely on smart contract assessment.
According to the latest update, BNB Chain added a total of 191 new projects to the list suspected of malicious activities such as issuing fake tokens, high or opaque tax fees, or simply due to the non-functionality of their websites or Twitter handles.
Among the flagged projects on the list are CycGo, Shorter Finance, and Piston Token, identified as potentially funded by assets from the controversial crypto-lending platform Tornado. BNB Chain has emphasized that the alert is not intended to serve as investment advice or to represent the risk level of the underlying DApp projects. Instead, it seeks to guide users in conducting their research to make informed investment decisions.
BNB Chain’s proactive approach to protecting investors’ interests underscores its commitment to strengthening the blockchain ecosystem. In fact, in early April, BNB Chain launched BNB Greenfield, an in-house venture to provide better-decentralized storage solutions. The new platform will enable users to create wallets and manage data while developers can exercise greater control over data assets.
BNB Chain’s Continuous Investigation of Suspicious Activities
In October 2022, Binance faced a potential exploit that targeted the BNB Chain blockchain. The BNB Chain consisted of BNB Beacon Chain and BNB Smart Chain. BNB Chain detected irregular activity, which prompted the temporary pause of BSC. Investigations confirmed a potential exploit had occurred, which could have resulted in an attack on hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto.
Initial investigations suggest that the attacker may have targeted up to two million BSC tokens, which could amount to roughly $570 million. This prompted Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to estimate that the attacker could only make away with $100 million, a substantial amount. BNB Chain reported that it had already frozen $7 million.
The decision to halt the chain slowed down the exploit, highlighting the safety measures BNB Chain had in place that allowed it to contain the potential exploitation entirely. In the crypto sphere, it is typically risky to halt chains as they are designed to operate beyond centralized control. Yet, in this case, it was the best course of action.
BSC’s control center, Token Hub Protocol, had detected an error in crypto transactions moving between the linked blockchain’s interlocking parts. This led to the chain being shut down, and validators quickly moved to freeze the funds.
During that time, Binance announced that it would hold a series of on-chain governance votes to decide whether the hacked funds should be frozen. It had a vote on a bug bounty reward system to prevent future hacks from happening.
