From Ronin, the blockchain behind the well-known cryptocurrency game Axie Infinity, hackers stole bitcoin valued at about $625 million.
In a blog post on Ronin Network’s official Substack, Axie Infinity and operator Sky Mavis disclosed the vulnerability. Transactions on the Ronin Bridge, which enables taking money out of the company’s blockchain and putting it in, were frozen by the operator.
The hacker who took the 173,600 Ethereum (ETH), which is presently worth nearly $600 million, and 25.5 million USDC, a cryptocurrency pegged to the dollar, from the Ronin network on March 23rd is being pursued by Sky Mavis and the police, according to a statement.
The bridge to Sky Mavis’ Ronin network, which serves as a conduit between the Ethereum blockchain and the NFT-based game Axie Infinity, was the target of the cyberattack. Users may fund Ronin with either Ethereum or USDC, purchase NFTs or in-game cash, or sell their in-game possessions and cash out the proceeds.
According to the operator, Sky Mavis, the hacker gained access to the network nodes that verify transfers on the Ronin blockchain using tampered private security keys. This allowed the attacker to withdraw substantial sums of Ethereum (ETH) and USDC. When a different user tried to use the bridge to withdraw 5,000 ETH, the hack was found over a week later.
