Unfortunate history has been made in the past few days, as the Axie Infinity Crypto Firm has announced a security breach of unprecedented proportions. Should the final estimates confirm the number, the exchange would have the largest crypto heist ever on its hands.
In their official blog post, Ronin, the underlying blockchain has confirmed that roughly $625 million has been siphoned through a play-to-earn game, which accounts for 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5M USDC.
The attacker is said to have hacked the private keys of Axie Infinity’s users, managing to orchestrate fake withdrawals. What’s even more alarming, however, is the fact that the theft was so elaborate that the company only discovered it after a user had complained that they were not able to withdraw funds from their account, a week after the heist took place.
"We are working with law enforcement officials, forensic cryptographers, and our investors to make sure there is no loss of user funds. This is our top priority right now," reads the blog article.
For the time being, several exchanges have temporarily disabled their bridge with Ronin as a cautionary measure, including the crypto giant Binance. The Ronin staff are said to have been on their feet for the last two days to ensure that such a breach does not happen again.