Axie Infinity’s Ronin Network hacked, over $600M siphoned from the platform

• Ronin has notified its users that it is working to recover the funds or reimburse users to ensure business continuity through trust.
• The Ethereum network has red-flagged the exploiter’s address for the purpose of investigations.

On March 23, 2022, a backside attack on Ronin bridge was executed and more than $600 million was siphoned. Six days later, the firm has identified the attacker after a user was unable to withdraw 5K ETH. Begging the question, is the small trader protected? Furthermore, the attack was only identified after a whale account reported a withdrawal error.

“Earlier today, we discovered that on March 23rd, Sky Mavis’s Ronin validator nodes and Axie DAO validator nodes were compromised resulting in 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5M USDC drained from the Ronin bridge in two transactions,” the firm noted in a blog post. 

Nevertheless, Ronin has notified its users that it is working to recover the funds or reimburse users to ensure business continuity through trust. The Ethereum network has red-flagged the exploiter’s address for purposes of investigations.

Further details on Ronin attack

The Ronin network is currently powering the Axie infinity digital nation. The network is focused on developing games through the use of NFTs. 

The attack began late last year and the attacker has been stealthily compromising the Ronin network. Reportedly, the attacker gained control of Sky Mavis’s four Ronin Validators and a third-party validator run by Axie DAO. With five validators under the attacker’s control, the network’s security powers were entirely compromised. Although the firm has announced plans to increase the validators’ threshold to eight, skeptics are wondering why it was never implemented at the beginning. the company explained;

Originally, Sky Mavis chose the five out of nine thresholds as some nodes didn’t catch up with the chain, or were stuck in syncing state. Moving forward, the threshold will be eight out of nine. We will be expanding the validator set over time, on an expedited timeline,

Notably, the firm has notified users that all AXS, RON, and SLP on Ronin are safe. However, users will have to wait until the project finishes the cash recovery process or get reimbursed. Currently, the Ronin network is working with law enforcement officials, forensic cryptographers, and investors to ensure funds are not lost. 

According to Etherscan details, the Ethereum transaction happened on Block 14442835 with 43608 Block Confirmations. The attack involved the Axie Infinity: Ronin Bridge contract. Notably, the contract involved used Wrapped Ether and Ether tokens.

The attacker has had more than enough time to manipulate the network. Perhaps the Ronin network was informed by the attacker in disguise.

Following the successful transfer of funds by the Ronin attacker, the hack enters into crypto history as one of the largest in value. Moreover, it is a notable attack based on the sophisticated methods applied to drain the funds. Reportedly, the attacker gained access to the Sky Mavis systems and was able to get the signature from the Axie DAO validator by using the gas-free RPC.