Axie Infinity Ronin Bridge Hacked for $625 Million in Largest Crypto Theft to Date
Incident Details
Summary
On March 23, 2022, hackers stole approximately $625 million in Ethereum and USDC from the Ronin Network, a blockchain sidechain supporting the Axie Infinity play-to-earn game. The attackers (later attributed to North Korea's Lazarus Group by the US Treasury) exploited compromised validator private keys. The breach wasn't discovered until March 29 when a user reported being unable to withdraw funds. Thousands of play-to-earn players, particularly in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, who relied on Axie Infinity income during COVID had funds trapped or lost. Sky Mavis pledged to reimburse users from a fundraising round, but repayments were partial. The hack remains one of the largest crypto thefts in history.
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