The U.S. Department of the Treasury managed to track down the culprit of the massive Axie Infinity cryptocurrency heist. It turns out that a North Korean hacker group called Lazarus stands behind the theft, which amounted to over $600 million worth of crypto being stolen.
In response to the theft, the group involved had been added to the U.S. international sanctions list.
THREAD: Updates to OFAC’s SDN designation for Lazarus Group confirm that the North Korean cybercriminal group was behind the March hack of Ronin Bridge, in which over $600 million worth of ETH and USDC was stolen.
— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) April 14, 2022
The attack took place in March of this year and it targeted Axie Infinity, a blockchain-based game that involves cryptocurrency transactions. Although the game is based on Ethereum, it utilizes a blockchain called Ronin. This allows the players to perform all the necessary transactions without paying the hefty fees of the standard Ethereum blockchain.
The two chains are connected by a digital bridge. It’s a helpful workaround for day-to-day users, but unfortunately, an exploit in the bridge between Ethereum and Ronin resulted in a massive theft. The hack conducted by the Lazarus Group resulted in 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5 million USDC being stolen. USDC is a so-called stable coin, which means it’s pegged to the U.S. dollar. At the time of the theft, the two currencies pooled together amounted to over $600 million.
Initially, it was unclear whether the north korea pulled million crypto heist
