Axie Infinity’s blockchain network hacked, $625 mln stolen

Logs showed the hack occurred last Wednesday, but it was not discovered until a user complained they were unable to withdraw 5,000 Ethereum, Axie Infinity co-founder Jeff Zirlin announced Tuesday.

"We realized the Ronin network has been exploited for 173,000 [ETH] and around $25 million in USDC," CNN quoted him as saying. "It is one of the bigger hacks in history."

Cryptocurrency website CoinDesk called the hack "the largest exploit in DeFi [decentralized finance] history."

Last year an anonymous hacker stole $600 million in cryptocurrency from Poly Network, a decentralized finance network, but gave it back later.

Cryptocurrencies related to Axie Infinity, including AXS, RON and SLP, fell by 7-27 percent after the hack was announced.

Ronin said it is "working directly with various government agencies to ensure the criminals are brought to justice."

According to tech website CNET, the Ronin network is used as a bridge between the Axie Infinity and blockchains, essentially to transfer cryptocurrency in and out of the game

Axie Infinity and Ronin were developed by Sky Mavis, a Vietnamese game studio that was valued at $3 billion at the end of last year.

Its game, Axie Infinity, is considered the most popular blockchain game globally, and its cryptocurrency AXS has a market cap of over $8 billion.