Cryptocurrency exchange puts $250,000 bounty on hackers

Binance is done playing nice.

The cryptocurrency exchange was the target of an attempted hack last week, and although the company claims that the attackers were largely unsuccessful in their efforts, they nevertheless still made someone at the exchange mad. So mad, in fact, that on Sunday, Binance announced the equivalent of a $250,000 bounty on the hackers.

"To ensure a safe crypto community, we can’t simply play defense," read the statement. "We need to actively prevent any instances of hacking before they occur, as well as follow through after-the-fact."

That follow through just so happens to come in the form of a fat cryptocurrency reward, and is all but guaranteed to kick off a mad digital vigilante rush.

"The first person to supply substantial information and evidence that leads to the legal arrest of the hackers, in any jurisdiction, will receive the equivalent of $250,000 USD in BNB [Binance Coin]," continued the modern day version of a wanted poster.

Binance appears to relish being on the offensive — a fact emphasized by the company's CEO, Changpeng Zhao.

"As in a football match, you can’t just play defense," he tweeted.

Regardless of how this particular case gets resolved, it doesn't look like the idea of exchanges putting bounties on hackers is going away any time soon. In fact, it's probably going to pick up steam.

"Binance has currently allocated the equivalent of $10,000,000 USD in crypto reserves for future bounty awards against any illegal hacking attempts on Binance," noted the same announcement. "We have also invited other exchanges and crypto businesses to join our initiative."

So all you would-be cryptocurrency exchange hackers out there, consider yourselves warned.