Sky Mavis co-founder Jeffrey Zirlin encountered a significant security breach when hackers infiltrated two of his personal Ethereum wallet addresses, leading to a loss of $9.7 million. Despite the attack, Zirlin assured stakeholders that Sky Mavis and the Ronin chain, crucial to the company’s operations, remain uncompromised. The breach was limited to his private wallets, he emphasized, distancing the incident from Sky Mavis’s corporate integrity.
Major Theft from Personal Crypto Wallets
In the aftermath, Zirlin clarified on social media that the leaked keys to his wallets had no ties to Sky Mavis’s secure processes. His associate at Sky Mavis, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, also confirmed that the Ronin Bridge, a key element in the company’s blockchain infrastructure, was unaffected. The breach represents a targeted attack against an individual’s assets and does not reflect a systemic vulnerability.
PeckShield, a blockchain security firm, detailed the theft by reporting the transfer of approximately 3,248 Ethereum from Zirlin’s substantial wallet. The stolen funds were subsequently funneled through Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer, potentially to obfuscate the transaction trail.
In response to the incident, officials communicated promptly to mitigate any adverse market effects, especially concerning AXS, the native token of Axie Infinity. Market data indicated that AXS prices remained relatively stable, showing resilience in the face of the hacking event.
Last Year’s Colossal Hack Looms Over Recent Incident
This security breach recalls a previous catastrophic event when the Ronin sidechain experienced a $625 million theft, which was amongst the largest in the history of cryptocurrency hacks. The Lazarus Group, purportedly backed by North Korea, was identified as the perpetrator, having executed a phishing attack to gain unauthorized access.