The Ronin Network suffered a massive hack. It cost players $625 million. This happened within the Axie Infinity game.
It was early 2022. People were excited about playing games to earn money. Axie Infinity was leading this trend. Players raised virtual pets called Axies. They fought and traded them to make real money. For many, especially in the Philippines, Axie was a way to improve their lives. It offered a chance for financial hope.
The Ronin Network made this possible. Sky Mavis built it. It was an add-on to the Ethereum blockchain. It made Axie transactions quick and cheap. By March, almost 3 million players were using it. They moved money and game items between different blockchains. But on March 23, 2022, disaster struck. Hackers stole $625 million. This was a huge amount of money. They took 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC. This was the biggest theft in the DeFi world at that time. The hackers were later linked to North Korea. This story is about trust, mistakes, and how a community fought back.
Picture a busy online store. Money was constantly moving.
In Manila, a mother used Axie earnings to pay for school. In Hanoi, a student funded his education with game battles. The Ronin Network was the engine for this economy. It was faster and cheaper than the main Ethereum network. Its bridge allowed users to move money. This helped Axie Infinity grow rapidly.
But the network had a weakness. It relied on nine security checkpoints called validator nodes. A transaction needed five approvals. Sky Mavis controlled four. The Axie DAO, a group of players, controlled one. In late 2021, the game got very popular. The network struggled to keep up. Sky Mavis asked the Axie DAO for temporary help. They got permission to use a special shortcut.
This was to keep things running smoothly. The permission was supposed to end in December. But the door remained unlocked.
Then, the Lazarus Group attacked. This group was known for cyberattacks. They had previously hacked Sony Pictures. They were also behind the WannaCry virus. Their method was clever. They didn't break in forcefully. Instead, they tricked someone.
Imagine a Sky Mavis employee. They might have been working in Vietnam. They received an email. It looked like a job offer from a good company. The email had a file attached. This file contained a hidden computer virus. The employee opened it. The hackers then gained access. They took control of four validator nodes. They also got the fifth node easily. This was possible because of the old access permission.
With five approvals secured, the hackers made two huge withdrawals. They took 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC. The total value was $625 million. All the stolen money went to one digital wallet. No one noticed the theft for six days.
On March 29, the truth came out. A player tried to take out 5,000 ETH. The transaction failed. Sky Mavis investigated. They found the bridge's money was gone. They announced the hack. They said the attacker used stolen digital keys. They faked the withdrawals.
The Ronin Bridge suddenly froze. All activity stopped. Binance, a major partner, also shut its bridge to Ronin. The crypto world was shocked. Experts from Chainalysis, Elliptic, and PeckShield examined the Ethereum records. They tracked the stolen money. The hackers were skilled at hiding their actions. They swapped the USDC for ETH on decentralized sites. This helped them avoid freezes. Then, they sent the funds through mixers like Tornado Cash. By mid-April, $42 million, or 7.5% of the total, was laundered. This money moved through exchanges and hidden wallets. One post on X highlighted the hackers' boldness. It said Lazarus didn't just steal from Ronin. They also bet on the prices of AXS and RON falling. They likely lost money before the news came out. That was a big blow.
The FBI and the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC quickly blamed Lazarus. They put sanctions on the hacker’s wallet. On April 14, this wallet still held 138,433 ETH, worth $402 million. The attack showed the group's signature tactics. These included careful planning, tricking people, and having a political motive. Experts believe North Korea used stolen crypto, including the Ronin funds. This money helped fund missile programs and luxury goods. It was a way to get around sanctions. Chainalysis reported that Lazarus stole over $1 billion in 2022 alone. The Ronin hack was their biggest score. This attack was more than just a financial loss. It was a strategic move in a geopolitical game.
Inside Sky Mavis, panic turned to determination. CEO Trung Nguyen spoke calmly but sounded tired. He told the community that all AXS, RON, and SLP tokens on Ronin were safe. He promised no user funds would be lost. Of the $625 million taken, $400 million belonged to users. The Axie DAO treasury lost $56 million. Sky Mavis pledged to repay all victims. This was true even if the stolen funds were never found. On April 6, they raised $150 million. Binance led the funding round. Animoca Brands, a16z, and others also invested. This boosted their resources.
Unlike the Poly Network hacker, who returned $610 million in a surprising move, Lazarus showed no mercy. Their trail became harder to follow. Funds spread across the blockchain. Some appeared on exchanges like Huobi and KuCoin. Others vanished completely.
The breach revealed Ronin's weak spots. Its system had nine validators. Sky Mavis controlled four of them. This was not very decentralized. A forgotten remote access key was a "major mistake," according to blockchain expert Kelvin Fichter. This error, along with poor monitoring, allowed $625 million to be moved without notice. Sky Mavis acted quickly. They increased the number of validators to eleven. They planned to reach 21 by mid-2022 and 100 in the long term. They hired CrowdStrike and Polaris Infosec for security checks. A $1 million reward was offered for finding bugs. They also adopted a strict security approach.
The Ronin Bridge was rebuilt. It underwent thorough checks. It reopened in late June. However, regaining trust was more difficult. In the Philippines, where Axie provided income for many, players faced hardship.
The prices of AXS and RON dropped. One player posted, "Axie paid my rent. Now what?" This hack followed other major losses in 2021. These included $2.2 billion lost in DeFi and a $324 million exploit on Wormhole. These events led to calls for better rules and audits.
By August 2025, the Ronin theft is a stark reminder. No stolen funds were recovered. The Lazarus operatives remain free. Their money likely supports North Korea's goals. The crypto community learned a hard lesson. They adopted stronger security measures. These include multi-signature wallets, hardware-based signing, and constant code checks. Posts on X reflected this sentiment. One read, "Ronin’s hack wasn’t expert hacking — it was a process failure. Keep your keys safe, everyone." For Axie players, it felt like a betrayal. For DeFi, it was a wake-up call. The Ronin story teaches an important lesson. In the new world of Web3, where code is law, one mistake can cause massive damage. Only constant watchfulness can repair the damage.
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