Axie Infinity's Ronin blockchain has become the latest victim of a hack. The hacker was able to steal $625 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) and USDC. Specificially, 174,600 ETH valuing at 600 million and 25.5 million USDC have been stolen thanks to the hack.
Hacked private keys are said to have been used by the hacker to carry out the crime, which was discovered after a user was unable to withdraw 5,000 ETH from the bridge.
Sky Mavis, the operator of Axie Infinity, is currently working on recovering or reimbursing the stolen crypto from the hacker's wallet.
Axie Infinity's Ronin Blockchain Hacked
Axie Infinity's Ronin blockchain has been hacked. The hack was discovered after it was reported to the operator that a user was not able to withdraw 5,000 ETH from the Ronin Bridge.
According the game's operator, Sky Mavis, "Earlier today, we discovered that on March 23rd, Sky Mavis's Ronin validator nodes and Axie DAO validator nodes were compromised resulting in 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5M USDC drained from the Ronin bridge in two transactions."
The announcement from Sky Mavis also mentions that private keys that have been hacked were used by the culprit to make withdrawls.
A report by The Verge says that 174,600 ETH have been stolen by the hacker. The stolen crypto is currently valued at approximately $600 million. Aside from that, 25.5 million USDC have also been stolen.
Sky Mavis has assured that the Axie NFT tokens needed in the game have not been compromised. The same could be said for the SLP and AXS in-game cryptocurrencies likewise used in Axie Infinity.
As a result of the attack, however, Sky Mavis has decided to temporarily pause the Ronin Bridge. It should likewise be noted that Binance has also decided to temporarily their bridge to and from Ronin as well.
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What Happens Next
According to the report by The Verge, Sky Mavis is working with law enforcement to recover the stolen crypto. Per the statement from Sky Mavis, the crypto is still in the hacker's wallet, whose link was included in the official announcement on the hack.
It has also been revealed that Chainalysis is helping monitor the stolen funds.
Sky Mavis also said that they are in discussion with stakeholders, including those belonging to Axie Infinity, on what their next steps should be. It has also been emphasized that they want to ensure that no funds belonging to users are lost.
"As we've witnessed, Ronin is not immune to exploitation and this attack has reinforced the importance of prioritizing security, remaining vigilant, and mitigating all threats," it said in its announcement.
It should likewise be noted that users of the Ronin Network are not allowed to withdraw and deposit funds. Sky Mavis wants to ensure first that the stolen crypto are either recovered or reimbursed.
