According to Sky Mavis’s chief operational officer, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, the business behind the blockchain-based game Axie Infinity is willing to reimburse its participants as quickly as possible. The beleaguered corporation is currently attempting to devise a suitable alternative.
According to data given by blockchain analytics company Elliptic, Ronin, an Ethereum-linked sidechain developed by Sky Mavis, was drained of $540 million in Ethereum and the USDC stablecoin earlier this month. On Tuesday, the hacking incident was revealed, sending shockwaves through the cryptocurrency community. The attacker gained access to the bridge’s “validator” nodes, allowing them to steal cryptographic keys and withdraw all cash.
This is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency hack (behind only Poly Network). PolyNetwork lost $611 million in August, but it was able to recover its assets after weeks of negotiations with the hacker. According to Elliptic, shortly after the hacking occurred, the hacker began exchanging USDC tokens for Ethereum in order to avoid being confiscated by Circle, the centralised stablecoin’s issuer.
They took advantage of decentralised exchanges, which allow their users to launder money without having to go through any identity checks. However, the attacker began laundering a part of the stolen ether through centralised exchanges, which has some in the crypto community concerned. The majority of the stolen money is still in the hacker’s numerous accounts.
Well, that is some relief for the players. Thanks to Axie Infinity.
Read more: Ronin suffers an exploit, damaging $600 million worth of crypto
