TL;DR breakdown
- Sky Mavis says it is investigating the recent crypto theft on Ronin Network.
- Over $600 million was reportedly drained from Ronin by hackers.
Sky Mavis, the Vietnamese company behind the popular Axie Infinity blockchain game, announced last week that it is investigating a security breach in the game’s blockchain network (Ronin Network) that resulted in the theft of more than US$600 million in cryptocurrency.
Sky Mavis committed to reimbursing affected users
The incident is believed to be one of the largest cryptocurrency heists in history and has sent shockwaves through the crypto community. Sky Mavis has not yet released any details about the security breach but promised to investigate and ensure “all drained funds are recovered or reimbursed.”
The Ronin Network, the blockchain network for Axie Infinity players, was hacked last week, resulting in the loss of about 170,360 ETH (used by players to buy and sell Axies characters). At the time, the dollar value of the stolen cryptocurrencies summed to over $600 million, alongside USD25.5 million.
In a public statement, Ronin said that the hackers compromised players’ ether stores by getting five of the nine validator signatures, which are essential for the network to recognize transactions.
Actions taken in Ronin validation
At the moment, Ronin Bridge has been temporarily stopped. Axie Infinity players cannot make withdrawals from the Ronin Network. The game’s economy will more likely take this matter seriously. Ronin reported that it is working closely with different organizations to investigate and recover the stolen assets.
The attack raises serious questions about the security of cryptocurrency networks and may lead to a rethink of how these platforms are secured. In the meantime, investors should be cautious about investing in cryptocurrencies until more is known about this incident. This is a reminder that new cryptocurrency projects can be vulnerable to hacking. Investors should exercise caution when considering whether or not to invest in crypto.
