Axie Infinity Co Founder Suffers Nearly 10 Million Dollars Loss Due to Wallet Breach

Crypto News– Jeff “Jihoz” Zirlin, a co-founder of Axie Infinity and the Ronin Network, recently fell victim to a devastating hack, resulting in the loss of nearly $10 million from his accounts. The breach occurred in two of Zirlin’s crypto wallets earlier today, with reports indicating that the hacker swiftly funneled the assets through Tornado Cash, obscuring their trail.

Axie Infinity Co Founder Suffers Nearly 10 Million Dollars Loss Due to Wallet Breach

Notably, blockchain investigator PeckShield highlighted the incident in a post on X, detailing the loss of 3,248 ETH from a whale account via the Ronin Bridge. However, in response to concerns raised, Ronin Network co-founder Aleksander Larsen reassured the community that the bridge itself remained secure and uncompromised. Larsen emphasized the bridge’s robust security measures, including automatic pausing in response to excessive withdrawal activity. Nonetheless, Larsen acknowledged that a wallet had indeed been compromised in the attack.

Axie Infinity Co-Founder Acknowledges Security Breach

Shortly thereafter, Zirlin himself confirmed the security breach, although he refrained from disclosing the exact amount lost. In a post on X, Zirlin revealed:

“It’s been a challenging morning for me. Two of my addresses have been compromised. The breach is contained within my personal accounts and does not impact the validation or operations of the Ronin chain.”

He further reassured the community that the compromised keys were unrelated to Sky Mavis, the parent company overseeing both Axie Infinity and the Ronin Network.

According to PeckShield, the hackers swiftly transferred the funds from Zirlin’s accounts into three separate wallets before funneling them into Tornado Cash, a tool designed to obfuscate asset ownership and complicate tracing efforts.

The incident brings back memories of a major breach that occurred in March 2022 when hackers successfully siphoned off over $600 million through the Ronin Bridge, marking one of the largest hacks in crypto history. During this event, Ronin suffered losses exceeding 173,000 ETH and more than 25 million USDC. Investigations revealed that hackers had compromised validator nodes for both Ronin and Axie DAO, enabling them to execute the theft in just two transactions.