The Ronin Bridge, which connects different blockchains, revealed that hackers stole approximately $590 million in one of the largest cryptocurrency industry attacks ever.
Computers known as nodes that support the bridge — a piece of software that allows people to easily convert tokens into ones that can be used on the Ronin network — were attacked, with the hacker draining the bridge of 173,600 Ether and 25.5 million USDC in two transactions, according to Ronin.
The breach occurred on March 23, but was discovered only on Tuesday, according to Ronin.
The attack is the latest example of how bridges are frequently prone to failure. The code of many bridges has not been audited. It’s not always clear who runs them or how. The identities of validators, who are supposed to order transactions on bridges, are frequently unknown.
After the hack was revealed, the price of Ron, a token used on the Ronin blockchain, fell by about 20%. According to CoinMarketCap, AXS, a token used in Axie Infinity, has dropped 6%.
Ronin did not respond to requests for comment right away.
Ronin stated on its blog that it is in contact with major cryptocurrency exchanges as well as blockchain tracer Chainalysis to track the movement of the stolen funds. Ronin also stated that it is collaborating with law enforcement.
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