Hackers steal over $600 million from Axie Infinity's Ronin Network

Hackers swiped roughly $625 million worth of cryptocurrency from Ronin Network, making it one of the largest crypto-thefts to date. Ronin is an independent and Ethereum-compatible blockchain developed by Sky Mavis, the publisher of the popular play-to-earn game Axie Infinity.

On Tuesday, Sky Mavis announced the breach and halted all transactions on the Ronin bridge, which enables users to deposit and withdraw cash from the company's blockchain. The company revealed the security breach in a post in its newsletter. According to the newsletter, an attacker used hacked private security keys to compromise the network nodes that validate transfers to and from Ronin. Using this method, the malicious attackers can withdraw large quantities of Ethereum and USDC. The activity was quiet and went unnoticed until a user filed a report that they were unable to withdraw funds.

On stage during a keynote address at the NFT LA conference, Axie Infinity co-founder Jeff Zirlin discussed the hack. He said, "We realized the Ronin network has been exploited for 173,000 [Ethereum] and around 25 million dollars in USDC." Collectively, the two are currently worth about $625 million. USDC is a stable coin whose value is pegged to the US dollar. 

The company pledged to make sure that no users' funds are lost. They also stated that they're working with numerous government agencies to make sure the criminals get brought to justice and that all funds are reimbursed and recovered.

SOURCE: The Verge