Axie Infinity co-founder loses nearly $10m from crypto wallet hack

Jeff Zirlin, co-founder of blockchain gaming platform Axie Infinity, suffered a loss of close to $10 million after two of his personal wallet addresses were compromised. 

Zirlin took to X to announce the unfortunate incident, stating that the hack did not affect operations on Sky Mavis or the Ronin chain. 

“The attack is limited to my personal accounts and has nothing to do with validation or operations of the Ronin chain. Additionally, the leaked keys have nothing to do with Sky Mavis operations. I want to assure everyone that we have strict security measures in place for all chain-related activities.”

Axie Infinity co-founder Jeff Zirlin on X

According to security outfit PeckShield, hackers drained 3,248 ETH (worth $9.5 million) from a whale wallet. The stolen funds were withdrawn from the Ronin Bridge and subsequently transferred to crypto mixer Tornado Cash.

Aleksander Larsen, co-founder and COO at Axie Infinity and Sky Mavis who goes by the name “Pyscheout” on X also confirmed that the Ronin Network and bridge were safe.

“A wallet has clearly been compromised like what happens on every chain, and the funds are being tornado cashed. The bridge itself has top security, been through many audits, and goes on pause when too much is being withdrawn.”

Aleksander Larsen on X

In March 2022, Ronin Network suffered a massive hack worth over $600 million in USDC and ETH, with notorious North Korean hackers Lazarus Group said to be behind the attack.