Hackers Target and Steal N249 Trillion Worth of Cryptocurrency From Gaming Company, Axie Infinity
- Axie Infinity has announced that there was a crypto heist at its blockchain on Tuesday, March 29, 2022
- The hackers made away with about $625 million worth of ether, equivalent to N249 trillion, which they diverted to an unknown crypto wallet
- Hacks of cryptocurrencies have skyrocketed in recent years as thieves target them due to their increasing value
Axie Infinity, makers of one of the most famous blockchain-related online games, announced on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, that hackers were able to steal assets valued at $625 million, over N249 trillion, from it and its players.
The heist has become one of the largest in the history of the nascent cryptocurrency industry decentralized online gaming, which has spiked in popularity recently.
Source: Getty Images
NBCNews said that the thieves targeted Ronin, a blockchain service operated by Axie Infinity, an online game attracting about 2 million users daily and seeing tens of millions of dollars in daily sales volume.
Network hijacked
In a blog post, Ronin said that the thieves took over the network and sent about 173,600 ethers valued at about $600 million to an unknown Ethereum wallet.
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The hackers then withdrew an equivalent of about $25.5 million coins; the digital currency pegged to the value of the US dollar.
Ethereum is a blockchain-based technology like bitcoin in which many computers contribute to a shared database not controlled by any single entity.
Thefts by hacks of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum have spiked recently due to their growing value.
Billions worth of crypto ferried away
Bloomberg reports that Axie Infinity is a virtual game founded in 2018 where players collect and create mythical creatures or beings and fight them against other users. It uses nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to keep track of ownership and reward players. It is operated by Sky Mavis based in Vietnam and has attracted high net worth investment from venture firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Mark Cuban, owner of Dallas Mavericks.
Players spend around $100 to play the game, while some have mentioned that it is not uncommon for players to spend about $1,000 to begin a game of creatures.
There were no comments from Sky Marvis.
Goldman Sachs begins over-the-counter crypto trading
Meanwhile, Legit.ng has reported there is a massive rallying for the premium cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, as it bounced back this week.
The price of Bitcoin spiked to over N18 million per Bitcoin after Russia indicated interest to accept Bitcoin as payment for oil and gas export, a Forbes report said.
The price of other cryptos like Ethereum has continued to climb as confidence mounts ahead of the anticipated upgrade.
Source: Legit.ng
