Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance Ltd. has surprised many by launching a new public blockchain while at the same time offering a bounty to identify those behind attempts to hack it earlier this month.

The new “Binance Chain” has been designed to facilitate the creation of a new decentralized exchange and is focused on the transfer and trading of blockchain assets, as well as providing “new possibilities for the future flow of blockchain assets,” Binance said in a blog post Tuesday. “Binance Chain will focus on performance, ease-of-use, and liquidity.”

Perhaps not surprising in the age of initial coin offerings, Binance Coin, the token Binance released last year, will become the central point of transactions on the Binance Chain.

“We believe significant improvements can be made in providing Binance users with a level of trading experience to which they are already accustomed,” the company wrote. “Centralized and Decentralized exchanges will co-exist in the near future, complementing each other, while also having interdependence.”

On the hacking front, Binance has established a cryptocurrency reserve valued at $10 million that’s offering substantial rewards to anyone with information related to attempts to hack it and its users: the equivalent of $250,000 to anyone who supplies information that leads to the legal arrest of the hackers.

“To ensure a safe crypto community, we can’t simply play defense,” Binance explained. “We need to actively prevent any instances of hacking before they occur, as well as follow through after-the-fact. Even though the hacking attempt against Binance on March 7th was not successful, it was clear it was a large-scale, organized effort.”

Despite only having been founded in 2017, Binance has quickly risen to become the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume. The company raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Funcity Capital in September.

Image: Binance