Former BNB Chain employee suspected of making a net profit of US$628,000...

BNB Chain said that the company is taking legal action over a former employee allegedly retaining mnemonic access to the company's tutorial wallet after leaving the company and using the address to launch a memecoin called "Asteroid Shiba"(token code: ASTEROID). The wallet was originally created for a video explaining how to issue tokens on BNB Chain. According to the company, although the wallet's private key had been deleted, the employee retained his recovery phrase after leaving the organization. BNB Chain said the employee "has left due to this matter" and the company is working with relevant authorities. However, BNB Chain did not specify specific jurisdictions, nor did it state the claims it planned to bring, or disclose whether any assets related to the suspected conduct had been frozen.

Zhao Changpeng, founder and former CEO of Binance, forwarded the company's statement and described the former employee as "basically a liar" and advised users to "stay safe". The accusation suggests that deleting the private key alone is not enough to disable a cryptocurrency wallet while others are still holding wallet mnemonics. Mnemonic words can regenerate wallets and restore control of addresses, allowing holders to sign transactions from other devices.

Why do traders already know about this wallet?

The same wallet was used to create the TST token, a test token shown in the February 2025 BNB Chain tutorial. When the tutorial briefly showed its name and Zhao Changpeng publicly discussed the token, speculators began trading TST. Although Binance and BNB Chain repeatedly stated that they did not recognize the asset, TST's market value subsequently exceeded US$50 million. This incident shows that even if tokens are created solely for educational purposes, they can quickly attract speculative funds as long as they are associated with well-known wallets or company content. After TST gained attention, the tutorial was deleted, as was the private key associated with the creator's address. This address holds approximately 0.13% of the TST supply. BNB Chain now accuses the former employee of retaining the underlying mnemonic words so that he could restore his wallet and reuse it to initiate the release of ASTEROID. The new token also appears to have copied the name of an existing project called Asteroid Shiba. The team on the original project stated that ASTEROID issued through the tutorial wallet was an unauthorized counterfeit, created through the Flap token issuance platform, and adopted a similar reward structure.

Investor Revelation

A token launched from a well-known wallet associated with a company may attract traders who believe the asset has an official endorsement. Wallet history does not represent endorsement, and control may persist while mnemonic words remain exposed.

How much did the associated wallet earn?

On-chain analytics firm Lookonchain said that shortly after the token deployment, four newly created wallets purchased 796.7 million ASTEROID tokens for approximately $10,000, accounting for 79.67% of the total supply. These wallets are different from the tutorial addresses used to initiate token issuance. According to the analyst firm, they subsequently sold approximately 718.8 million tokens in exchange for 1,103 BNB (valued at approximately $638,000 at the time). This means a profit of approximately $628,000 before deducting transaction costs and the value of any remaining tokens. However, public blockchain data alone cannot ultimately determine who the controllers of these four purchase wallets are. BNB Chain's statement confirmed the alleged misuse of the tutorial wallet, but did not disclose evidence directly linking these other addresses to former employees. Nearly 80% of supply is concentrated in four wallets, creating an extreme imbalance between insiders or early buyers and later market participants. When such a large share can be sold in relatively shallow liquidity, buyers face a high risk of a sharp drop in prices and have difficulty exiting at the market price shown.

What does this event mean for token issuance?

This case exposed operational security vulnerabilities rather than flaws in the underlying blockchain of BNB Chain itself. The core issue is that when employees change positions or leave, the company controls the creation, storage, revocation and audit process of wallet access credentials. Organizations often rotate passwords and revoke employee account permissions after leaving, but cryptocurrency wallets require additional controls. If the mnemonic exists elsewhere, deleting just one copy of the private key will not ensure the security of the wallet. Companies may require oversigning approvals, hardware-based custody, trading strategies, and formal processes for relinquishing or transferring control of addresses for public demonstrations.

The incident may also increase scrutiny of token issuance platforms that make it possible to create and distribute memecoin within minutes. Rapid issuance itself is not necessarily an abuse, but it allows deployers to pool supplies, coordinate purchases, and leverage identifiable wallet history before ordinary traders have enough information to assess risk. BNB Chain's next disclosure will determine whether the case remains an internal access dispute or develops into a broader law enforcement incident. Traders will pay close attention to the details of legal claims, ownership of associated wallets, and whether any reported proceeds can be recovered.