Axie Co-Founder Loses Millions in Crypto Hack
Jeff “Jihoz” Zirlin, co-founder of popular blockchain game Axie Infinity and the Ronin Network, revealed today that two of his personal crypto wallets were hacked, resulting in losses of nearly $10 million worth of Ethereum.
The hack, first detected and reported by blockchain security firm PeckShield, involved the unauthorized transfer of approximately 3,248 ETH, currently valued at around $9.6 million, from Zirlin’s Ronin Bridge wallet. The funds were initially split across three different wallets before being deposited into Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer.
In a series of tweets, Zirlin confirmed the hack but assured that Ronin Network operations were not affected.
Aleksander Larsen, another Ronin Network co-founder, stated that while concerning, the attack seemed to target Zirlin’s personal wallet rather than the Ronin Bridge itself, which has undergone security audits.
The wallet compromise comes two years after Ronin Network’s bridge was hacked for over $625 million worth of crypto. That hack was attributed to the North Korean-linked Lazarus Group.