[BreachExchange] Axie Infinity’s Ronin bridge halted after a massive $600 million hack

[Matthew Wheeler]

https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/axie-infinitys-ronin-bridge-halted-after-a-massive-600-million-hack/articleshow/90539665.cms

The Ronin wallet is popular amongst play-to-earn games, and Axie Infinity
is amongst the most popular such games in the world.

Axie Infinity’s user base dropped 10% in the last 24 hours.

Sky Mavis has said that the company is working with law enforcement to
track the hack.

The Ronin bridge for popular crypto game Axie Infinity has been halted
after a security breach was discovered, almost a week after it took place.
Approximately $625 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen from Ronin,
the blockchain platform that powers Axie Infinity. The breach was revealed
by Sky Mavis, the operator of Ronin and Axie on March 29, but it originally
occurred on March 23. The showrunners discovered the hack when a user
failed to withdraw 5000 ETH from their account.

Blockchain bridges are connectors that allow different chains and web3
products to interact with each other.

Sky Mavis has said that the company is working with law enforcement to look
into the hack, which led to the loss of 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC
from the platform. The Ethereum tokens are worth approximately $600
million, while USDC is a cryptocurrency that is built to stay in sync with
the US dollar.

The attack was focused on the bridge between Axie Infinity and Ronin, which
is why the bridge has been halted. However, the developers have said that
the “axie” tokens, which are used to play Axie Infinity, haven't been
compromised. The SLP and AXS currencies used in the game are safe as well,
according to the devs.

That said, freezing the bridge means that both withdrawals and deposits
from the game will be blocked for now, and it’s unclear when the same will
be opened again. Crypto tracking website Coinmarketcap carries the
following disclaimer for the AXS token right now.

“Holders will be able to access new features (breeding and staking in the
future) if they upgrade their AXS/SLP. This can be done from
Axieinfinity.com starting Wednesday 28 of April 2021. The swap can be
initiated immediately by interacting directly with the smart contract.

It’s possible that the bridge will remain blocked till investigations into
the matter are complete, which could take a long time, going by how long it
usually takes law enforcement to track crypto hacks.

The Ronin hack, however, is yet another reminder that security is quickly
becoming a chief concern among web3 products. In a February report,
blockchain tracking platform Chainalysis noted that crypto criminals or
wallets used in illicit crypto activities now make up 3.7% of the world’s
crypto whales.

“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,” Sky Mavis said in its community alert. “We
know trust needs to be earned and are using every resource at our disposal
to deploy the most sophisticated security measures and processes to prevent
future attacks.”

Axie Infinity, which is among the most popular play-to-earn games in the
world today, also registered a nearly 10% drop in its user base in the last
24 hours, according to a report by DappRadar.
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