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A cryptocurrency startup that operates a popular online game called “Axie Infinity” said Tuesday that hackers stole more than $500 million worth of cryptocurrency.
“Axie Infinity” publisher Sky Mavis Ltd. said on March 23, hackers infiltrated a part of its Ronin Network, which the game runs on. The infiltrators got access to accounts holding cryptocurrencies and drained 173,600 ether and 25.5 million of the stablecoin USDC.
“The breach happened due to social engineering, not technical flaw,” said Aleksander Larsen, operating chief and co-founder of Sky Mavis. While users are now unable to withdraw or deposit funds to Ronin Network, he said Sky Mavis is committed to ensuring that all of the drained funds are recovered or reimbursed.
It was the second-largest crypto hack ever, according to analytics firm Elliptic. The assets were worth about $540 million on the date of the theft and are worth about $615 million now.
Sky Mavis shared a link that shows the stolen funds are still in the hacker’s wallet. The firm said it is working with the analytics firm Chainalysis to track the stolen funds. The news didn’t have a big impact on the price of ether
ETHUSD,
which was down 0.65% at $3,395.20 at 5 p.m. ET.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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