Volatile Times: BNB Chain Exploiter Liquidated for $30M, Making it the Second Major Liquidation in a Week

An erstwhile notorious wallet that had previously secured a staggering loan exceeding $150 million in stablecoins from the Venus Protocol lending and borrowing platform, now faces a significant and consequential reckoning. As the value of BNB (bnb) experienced a dip to $209 in the morning hours, this wallet found itself on the receiving end of a substantial liquidation event. Marking a recurring pattern, this incident constitutes the second major liquidation episode within the span of a single week.

The details of this event reveal a narrative of calculated dynamics. Over 6.89 million Venus BNB (vBNB) tokens, tantamount to a value of $30 million, became the focal point of this liquidation saga. Intriguingly, the process bore the marks of human intervention, as the BNB Chain developer team assumed the role of orchestrators. This proactive manoeuvre finds its roots in a decisive governance vote cast back in November 2022.

#PeckShieldAlert The #BNBBridge Exploiter's position has been liquidated for ~6.89M $vBNB. The liquidator has repaid 30M $USDT. pic.twitter.com/yokVbIGuS3
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) August 21, 2023
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Continuing the thread of recent developments, Monday bore witness to yet another intriguing liquidation event. This occurrence harkens back to a parallel incident from the preceding week, wherein a substantial sum of $60 million, emblematic of the exploiter's loan, met its fate in a calculated sequence of liquidation actions spanning two transactions.

What is Liquidation in this Case?

Liquidation unfolds as a consequential event within the realm of trading, marking the moment when an exchange is compelled to bring closure to a trader's leveraged position. This recourse is triggered by the realisation of either a partial or an entire loss of the trader's initial margin. The driving impetus behind this occurrence lies in instances where a trader confronts an inability to meet the mandatory margin requisites for a leveraged position, or alternatively, is faced with insufficient funds to maintain the continuity of the trade.

How is BNB Chain Related to Venus?

Functioning on the BNB Chain network, Venus assumes a pivotal role in the digital landscape. Its holdings encompass an impressive array of tokens, valued at over $620 million, a portion of which, amounting to $480 million, has been entrusted to users through borrowing transactions. Among these borrowers emerges a distinctive figure—the wallet linked to the infamous BNB Chain exploiter. A year prior, an assailant orchestrated a breach that resulted in the pilfering of more than $100 million in BNB tokens. This audacious move leveraged a bridge, a tool facilitating the seamless movement of tokens between diverse networks interconnected by the BNB Chain.

This unknown attacker manoeuvre the ill-gotten gains into the Venus lending protocol, effectively borrowing an astronomical sum of $150 million in stablecoins. Yet, the inexorable march of time unravelled a different chapter, characterised by the gradual descent of BNB prices over the past year. This descent cast a shadow over the colossal loan, rendering it perilously close to the precipice of liquidation. The prospect of imminent liquidation threatens to reverberate across the market, precipitating a cascade of events that could potentially trigger a swift decline in BNB prices as tokens are offloaded in the open market to offset the debt.