BNB and Optimism Synergy: opBNB Mainnet Launches with a Vision for a Billion Web3 Users

The highly anticipated opBNB Mainnet has gone live on September 13, 2023. Founded on the pillars of scalability, security, and cheaper transaction fees, opBNB’s inauguration is poised to bring another one billion users into the realm of Web3.

opBNB is distinguished as an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible Layer 2 chain rooted in the Optimism OP Stack. This mainnet launch signifies a crucial step towards widening blockchain accessibility through reduced gas fees.

The odyssey to the opBNB Mainnet began with its Testnet launch on June 19, 2023. With over 35 million processed on-chain transactions and connections to more than 435,972 unique wallet addresses, the Testnet phase has been commendable. Other notable Testnet statistics include an average block time of roughly 1 second, processing of over 86,000 daily blocks, a daily transaction range of 100-150K, engagement with an active community of over 6,000 daily users, and the deployment of 150+ dApps.

opBNB’s Mainnet stands out with unique offerings. The Layer 2 gas costs plummet to a mere 0.2 gwei, and transactions can go as low as $0.005 per transfer. Among its security protocols, opBNB adopts a trustless approach that doesn’t make assumptions about the Sequencer. It ensures all transaction data is verified across all full nodes on the BNB Smart Chain. To ensure comprehensive network security, opBNB has already met crucial Mainnet genesis criteria. These include a high availability solution, peak performance of 4K transactions per second, stress testing, and consistent internal and external security audits. The Mainnet launch has been accompanied by over 150 projects pledging integration or development on the opBNB platform.

opBNB’s commitment to its developer community has been unwavering. By partnering with top-tier infrastructure and tooling providers, the user experience on the opBNB network has been notably enhanced. Moreover, community engagement initiatives such as the Hackvolution hackathon brought forth over 500 project submissions on the opBNB Testnet.

Post Mainnet launch, opBNB’s emphasis will be on strengthening network resilience and decentralization. Some of the future-focused initiatives are delving into the OP Stack framework to bolster the efficiency of their fraud-proof system, a strategic move to simplify network interactions, ensuring smooth data transitions and fostering an integrated ecosystem for developers, and a mechanism that intends to boost fairness and mitigate risks associated with centralization.

In conclusion, opBNB’s launch signifies a new chapter in blockchain technology, driven by accessibility and innovation. With a vision to welcome the next billion users to Web3, the opBNB network is set to redefine blockchain’s landscape.

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Binance to Airdrop 3 Million BNB to Aid Morocco Earthquake Victims

In light of the recent earthquake that struck the Marrakesh-Safi Province of Morocco, Binance Charity has pledged to airdrop up to $3 million in BNB to affected Binance users in the region.

The criteria for the airdrop are based on Proof of Address (POA) submissions. Users who had completed their POA by 9 September 2023 in the hardest-hit Marrakesh-Safi Province will be eligible for a $100 BNB airdrop directly to their Binance accounts. Recognizing that some users might not have completed their POA by the aforementioned date, Binance has extended a grace period. Users who complete their POA between 9 September and 30 September 2023 will receive a $25 BNB donation.

Additionally, Binance will airdrop $10 in BNB to active transacting users throughout Morocco, even if they reside outside the most affected areas. The initiative is expected to benefit approximately 70,000 Binance users in Morocco, with the funds distribution commencing on 12th September 2023.

Natural disasters often disrupt traditional banking systems, leaving victims without access to crucial funds. Cryptocurrency, with its swift, cost-effective, and transparent transactions, is emerging as a viable alternative for delivering financial aid in such circumstances.

Commenting on the situation, Binance’s founder and CEO, CZ, stated, “The impact of the earthquake on the Moroccan people is devastating. We hope we can bring some support to those affected. For Moroccan users who receive these donations but are unimpacted by the earthquake, we ask them to pass the funds on to those most in need.”

In addition to the airdrop, Binance Charity has set up a public donation address, allowing anyone to contribute. All donations received will be forwarded in their entirety to a yet-to-be-named authorized NGO. Accepted cryptocurrencies for this cause include BNB, BTC, ETH, USDC, USDT, and BUSD.

In these challenging times, Binance reaffirms its commitment to its Moroccan user base, seeking further avenues to assist the community.

About BNB

BNB, the native token of Binance, represents a cornerstone of the Binance ecosystem. Launched in July 2017, Binance has since become the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume. Beyond its primary function as an exchange, Binance has expanded its reach, introducing various sub-projects like the Binance Chain, Binance Smart Chain, and Binance Academy. BNB plays a pivotal role in these projects. Founded by Changpeng Zhao and co-founder He Yi, Binance’s vision is to be the infrastructure services provider for the entire blockchain ecosystem. Unique features of BNB include its deflationary tokenomics, enhanced by measures like BEP-95, and its coin burn mechanism, aiming to reduce its initial supply by half. The initial circulation of BNB was 200 million tokens.

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BNB Chain Announces Ecosystem Catalyst Award Winners

BNB Chain, a prominent blockchain ecosystem, announced the winners of its Ecosystem Catalyst Awards on September 6, 2023. The awards ceremony aimed to recognize and celebrate key contributors in various segments of the BNB Chain ecosystem.

Award Categories and Winners

The awards were divided into four main categories:

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Segment: Winners included PancakeSwap, MAV Protocol, Izumi Finance, Helio Money, and Alpaca Finance.

Gaming, NFT & the Metaverse Segment: Second Live Real, Element Market, Burger Cities Bar, Playbux Co, and Meta Merge were the awardees.

Infrastructure Segment: Polyhedra ZK, Layer Zero Labs, Galxe, BscScan, and Cyber Connect HQ were recognized.

Innovation Excellence: Dmail Official, Hooked Protocol, MathVerse NFT, Chain GPT, and DexCheck.io received accolades.

Significance of the Awards

The Ecosystem Catalyst Awards serve as an important milestone in recognizing the “dedication, creativity, and vision” of developers and organizations that are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the blockchain space. According to BNB Chain, these contributors have played a “vital role in shaping the future of the BNB Chain ecosystem.”

Community Response

The announcement has been met with widespread approval and enthusiasm from the blockchain community. BNB Chain expressed its “sincere appreciation to all our finalists for their important contributions to our ecosystem.”

Future Implications

The awards are expected to drive further innovation and collaboration within the BNB Chain ecosystem. As BNB Chain stated, “Together, we’ll keep driving the BNB Chain ecosystem to new heights.” BNB Chain provides “cross-chain/multi-chain infrastructure and interoperability to lay the foundation for the next 1 billion Web3 users making it super easy for Web3 Gaming, NFTs and Metaverse dApps to scale.” Read more on exclusive interview by Blockchain.News with BNB chain.

Data-Driven Perspective

As of the latest data, BNB Chain has been experiencing steady growth in terms of user engagement and transaction volumes. The awards could serve as a catalyst for attracting more developers and users to the platform, thereby potentially increasing its market share in the competitive blockchain space.

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Binance Introduces New Dual Investment with BTC, ETH, BNB

Binance announced today the launch of a new set of Dual Investment products. These products come with updated Target Prices and Settlement Dates, allowing users to either “Sell High” or “Buy Low” on a variety of cryptocurrencies.

Dual Investment is an investment vehicle that doesn’t guarantee the protection of the principal amount invested. The primary risk associated with this product stems from market price fluctuations. During periods of high market volatility, accurately forecasting the gap between the target price and the actual market price at the time of settlement can be challenging. This uncertainty also extends to predicting the currency in which the settlement will occur. Hence, prior to subscribing, it’s crucial to fully comprehend both the features of the product and the associated risks. 

Subscription Mechanics

The subscription format for these new products is on a first-come, first-served basis. According to the announcement, Dual Investment allows users to set a specific price and date in the future for buying or selling selected cryptocurrencies, all without incurring any fees. Once subscribed, the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) will be locked in, despite any market fluctuations that may occur before the subscription.

Target Users and Currencies

The “Sell High” products are designed for users who aim to accumulate higher rewards on their cryptocurrency holdings or sell their deposit currency at a future date for a price higher than the market rate at the time of subscription. The “Buy Low” products, on the other hand, are tailored for those who wish to accumulate high rewards on stablecoin holdings or buy a cryptocurrency at a future date for a lower price than the current market rate.

Settlement Dates

For “Sell High” products with Ethereum (ETH) as the deposit currency and Bitcoin (BTC) as the currency to sell for, the settlement dates range from September 12, 2023, to March 29, 2024. For “Buy Low” products with Bitcoin (BTC) as the deposit currency and Ethereum (ETH) or Binance Coin (BNB) as the currency to buy, the settlement dates are similarly ranged.

Additional Features and Notes

Binance has also introduced a Dual Investment Auto-Compound feature, which users can enable or disable at their discretion. However, it’s worth noting that Dual Investment products cannot be redeemed before the Settlement Date.  (Read Exclusive Interview with CZ by Blockchain.News)

The APR for these products will change in real-time depending on market conditions but will be locked in once the subscription is confirmed.

Risk Factors

While Dual Investment offers a structured way to invest in cryptocurrencies, Binance has stated that it may stop accepting new subscriptions at any time. Therefore, potential investors should exercise due diligence and consider the associated risks.

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BNB hacker liquidates from market meltdown, loses $53M

The dramatic market reversal that occurred in the cryptocurrency arena resulted in the liquidation of many traders. According to the data that was shown on the blockchain, the attackers responsible for the BNB Smart Chain vulnerability, which resulted in the theft of nearly $600 million worth of BNB tokens, were also liquidated.

On October 6th, an exploit on the BSC Token Hub cross-chain bridge led to the temporary suspension of BNB Smart Chain (BSC). Validators have been asked to halt BSC, but the issue was then contained, ensuring the safety of all funds. The community’s swift assistance was crucial in freezing transfers. Node service providers, including Hash, Neptune, BSCScan, and others, were commended for their rapid response. While initial losses were estimated between $100M-$110M, community and security efforts have frozen about $7M. The collaboration and support from the community have been deeply appreciated.

On August 18, the collateral connected with a cryptocurrency wallet that was tied to the vulnerability was liquidated on the cryptocurrency lending site Venus Protocol, as stated by the  PeckShield. Over 53 million dollars’ worth of value was assigned to the collateral.

The value of the whole cryptocurrency market dropped by 7% on August 18, according to CoinGlass, bringing the total worth of the market down to $1.1 trillion.

The market data tracker CoinGlass estimates that the disaster was responsible for the loss of more than one billion dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency assets over the course of the preceding twenty-four hours.

The decline in the price of BNB below $220 (liquidation price) has a negative impact on the activities of the hackers operating on the BNB Smart chain. After the price plummeted, three positions related to the wallet were instantly closed out.

As a direct and immediate result of the dramatic decrease in the market, a large number of individuals were obliged to face a financial blow, while others were able to mitigate the magnitude of their losses.

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Multichain Reports Unusual Outflows Worth Over $100M

In the past 12 hours, a large amount of assets has unusually flowed out from Multichain. These assets, which include a variety of cryptocurrencies, have been transferred to the new address: 0x1eed63efba5f81d95bfe37d82c8e736b974f477b. At the time of writing, the net worth of all assets transferred is $102,834,504.

The assets that have flowed out are approximately as follows:

  1. From Fantom: 11.91 million DAI, 13,146 ETH, 10.1 million USDC, 64 million USDT, 52 BTC
  2. From Arbitrum: 2,891 WETH, 8.7 million USDC, 7.5 WBTC
  3. From BNB Chain: 209k USDC, 50.8 BTCB
  4. From Avalanche: 2.38 million DAI, 33.76 WBTC.e
  5. From Cronos: 667.4 WETH, 9 million USDC, 616k DAI
  6. From Polygon: 19.95k USDC, 5,582 WETH, 7.05 WBTC
  7. From Moonbeam: 237.6k USDC
  8. From Optimism: 37k USC, 21.91 WBTC, 10.36 million DAI
  9. From Ethereum: 15k DAI

On July 7th, the Multichain team announced via Twitter that the assets locked up on the Multichain MPC address had been moved abnormally to an unknown address. The team was unsure of the cause and began an investigation. They recommended that all users suspend the use of Multichain services and revoke all contract approvals related to Multichain. They also announced that the Multichain service had been stopped, and all bridge transactions would be stuck on the source chains. They did not provide a confirmed time for resuming the service and advised users not to use the Multichain bridging service.

On July 8th, Circle and Tether, two major stablecoin issuers, froze over $65 million in assets that had been transferred from Multichain. This amount represented about half of the assets that were abnormally moved.




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美国证券交易委员会主席的前学生就币安和Coinbase的诉讼发表看法

曾在麻省理工学院斯隆管理学院学习并担任Gary Gensler教授助教的“Kenny”(仅在Twitter上以此称呼)对美国证券交易委员会(SEC)最近对币安和Coinbase提起的诉讼,以及他个人在区块链和加密货币世界中的旅程,提供了一些深度见解。

Kenny在Twitter上分享了他在根斯勒担任SEC主席之前作为其学生的经历。值得注意的是,作为学生的Kenny曾撰写了关于币安币(BNB)的报告,并与根斯勒和币安创始人赵长鹏(通常被人称为CZ)共享。

回忆起那段时间,Kenny写道:“我感受到的不是报告本身,而是根斯勒先生和赵先生之间的交流。我感觉到区块链的未来对来自监管者和创新者的创新都持开放态度。”

后来,在2019年夏天在上海实习期间,Kenny与Victor Ji共同开展了一个与小企业的去中心化身份识别有关的项目。Kenny回忆起他与根斯勒讨论这些想法时的情况,形容他们的对话充满了思考。

在这些推文中,Kenny承认他在区块链世界的成长,并感谢根斯勒、Ji和赵为他提供的指导和启发。Kenny说,“遇见根斯勒先生,与Victor一起探索,得到赵先生的认可……这一切都像是宇宙的引导之风。我并未寻求这些机会,但却在正确的时间出现在正确的地方。”

这种个人联系使得SEC最近对币安和Coinbase提起的诉讼对Kenny产生了特别大的影响。在2023年6月5日和6日,SEC分别对各种币安实体提出了13项指控,并寻求紧急救济,以确保币安.US客户的资产得到保护。

谈到这些诉讼,Kenny说:“从一个受到这些纠纷中人物启发的人的角度看,SEC对币安和Coinbase提起的诉讼是一个真正的不幸结果。”

Kenny对区块链和加密货币的未来仍持乐观态度,他最后说:“我真心希望这一事件的结果能考虑到所有那些最聪明的人正在这个领域辛勤付出的努力,以改变世界。”

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Binance Publishes Details of Holdings in its Hot Wallet

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform by transaction volume has published the details of the funds in its hot wallet as it seeks to truly lead by example.

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Taking to its official Twitter handle to announce the move, the firm shared a snapshot of what it currently holds as of November 10, 12 am UTC.

The total number of its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings came in at 475,000, worth about $8.42 billion based on the current price of Bitcoin pegged at $17,744.28 per data from CoinMarketCap.

The exchange said it has a total of 4.8 million ETH, 17.6 billion USDT, 21.7 billion BUSD, 601 million USDC, and 58 million BNB. If aggregated together, the funds are worth more than $72 billion judging by the prices of all assets at the time of writing.

The figures posted send confidence into the Binance community with many attesting to the strong liquidity and solvency of the trading platform. 

With the whole fiasco surrounding the rival trading firm, FTX, many exchanges have been placed on the edge as customers demand Proof-of-Reserve. Now that Binance has taken the lead, more exchanges may also follow suit as this seems to be the only thing that can pacify investors at this time.

The crypto ecosystem has passed through tumultuous seasons this year with the collapse of Terra (LUNA) initially sending top crypto lenders like Celsius Network and Voyager Digital to file for bankruptcy. The rout in the industry was very encompassing, it cut across various countries and sectors of the industry.

Billions of investor funds are still being locked up in bankruptcy proceedings to date and many are weary of events that will likely stir a repeat of such an occurrence with FTX. For now, investors are likely to stick with a trading platform with proven robust reserves until the coast is truly clear.

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Binance Identifying Hackers behind $570m Crypto Exploit, Says CZ

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao on Monday told CNBC media that the cryptocurrency exchange is getting closer to identify the identity of a hacker or hackers who organized a $570 million hack on its BNB blockchain early this month.

In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday, Zhao said after obtaining some tips from law enforcement agencies on who the hacker(s) might be, Binance is now “narrowing down” the person or persons who facilitated the attack.

The attack occurred on a cross-chain bridge where users transfer digital assets from one blockchain to another, allowing the unknown hacker or hackers to make a withdrawal of 2 million of Binance’s BNB tokens worth around $570 million at that time.

Zhao said, “We’re still actually chasing … helping [authorities] to chase the bad players, working with law enforcement around the globe. Working with law enforcement is one of the ways that we can try to make the space safe.”

The CEO said law enforcements have given Binance some tips regarding who they think might be behind the attack, and now the exchange is “narrowing down.”

On October 7, a cross-chain bridge linking with BNB Chain (Binance Chain) was attacked, enabling hackers to move BNB tokens off the network.

During that time, Zhao said Binance intervened to limit the damage of the attack, suspending all transaction processing activities on its BNB Chain blockchain network after coordinating with network validators — entities or individuals who confirm transactions on the blockchain.

Zhao said with the intervention, BNB Chain was able to prevent most of the targeted funds from being stolen by the hacker. “The blockchain was able to freeze about 80% to 90% of it, so the actual loss of it was much smaller,” the CEO said.

The firm coordinated with BNB Chain validators to enact an upgrade. And that meant that the majority of the funds remained in the exploiter’s crypto wallet, while around $100 million was unrecovered.

The Binance hack was the latest in a string of major attacks targeting cross-chain bridges. According to Chainalysis blockchain analytics company, approximately $1.4 billion has been stolen due to cross-chain bridges since the beginning of 2022.

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Binance Is Profiling Identities of Hackers behind $570m Crypto Exploit, Says CZ

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao on Monday told CNBC media that the cryptocurrency exchange is getting closer to identify the identity of a hacker or hackers who organized a $570 million hack on its BNB blockchain early this month.

In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday, Zhao said after obtaining some tips from law enforcement agencies on who the hacker(s) might be, Binance is now “narrowing down” the person or persons who facilitated the attack.

The attack occurred on a cross-chain bridge where users transfer digital assets from one blockchain to another, allowing the unknown hacker or hackers to make a withdrawal of 2 million of Binance’s BNB tokens worth around $570 million at that time.

Zhao said, “We’re still actually chasing … helping [authorities] to chase the bad players, working with law enforcement around the globe. Working with law enforcement is one of the ways that we can try to make the space safe.”

The CEO said law enforcements have given Binance some tips regarding who they think might be behind the attack, and now the exchange is “narrowing down.”

On October 7, a cross-chain bridge linking with BNB Chain (Binance Chain) was attacked, enabling hackers to move BNB tokens off the network.

During that time, Zhao said Binance intervened to limit the damage of the attack, suspending all transaction processing activities on its BNB Chain blockchain network after coordinating with network validators — entities or individuals who confirm transactions on the blockchain.

Zhao said with the intervention, BNB Chain was able to prevent most of the targeted funds from being stolen by the hacker. “The blockchain was able to freeze about 80% to 90% of it, so the actual loss of it was much smaller,” the CEO said.

The firm coordinated with BNB Chain validators to enact an upgrade. And that meant that the majority of the funds remained in the exploiter’s crypto wallet, while around $100 million was unrecovered.

The Binance hack was the latest in a string of major attacks targeting cross-chain bridges. According to Chainalysis blockchain analytics company, approximately $1.4 billion has been stolen due to cross-chain bridges since the beginning of 2022.

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Bitcoin (BTC) $ 26,070.99 1.97%
Ethereum (ETH) $ 1,574.47 1.23%
Litecoin (LTC) $ 64.29 0.80%
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 206.94 1.00%