Hackers have stolen cryptocurrency worth nearly $615 million from blockchain project Ronin linked to the popular online game Axie Infinity.
This is being termed as one of the largest cryptocurrency heists on record. The project said that unidentified hackers on March 23 stole some 173,600 ether tokens and 25.5 million USD Coin tokens.
This makes it the second-largest crypto theft on record, according to blockchain analysis firm Elliptic.
Ronin is used to power the popular online game Axie Infinity, which uses non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and is the biggest NFT collection by all-time sales volume, according to NFT market tracker CryptoSlam.
In a blog post, Ronin said that the hackers had used stolen private keys – the passwords needed to access crypto funds – to make off with the funds. The company said it had discovered the hack on Tuesday.
“We are working directly with various government agencies to ensure the criminals get brought to justice,” it said, adding that it was discussing with Axie Infinity how to ensure no users’ funds were lost.
About Ronin
It is developed by Singapore-based game studio Sky Mavis, which owns Axie Infinity.
What is Axie Infinity?
It is a popular ‘play to earn’ game that lets players earn crypto by playing but with a starting cost, also paid in cryptocurrency.
Last August, hackers behind likely the biggest ever digital coin heist returned nearly all of the $610 million-plus they stole from the DeFi site Poly Network.
(With agency inputs)
