Very recently, we covered the news where Sky Mavis’s Ronin Blockchain platform on which their popular game Axie Infinity operates had revealed that they have just been the victims of a $625 million scam. Both Ethereum and USDC had valued it at $540 Million at the time of the theft, being drained out of the Ronin Blockchain through a backdoor making this Axie Infinity blockchain Heist the second biggest crypto theft of all time.
At that point in time, little was known about the hackers’ identity, and Sky Mavis brought Government Agencies into the loop. The FBI and the U.S. Department Of the Treasury have put the Lazarus Group in their crosshairs, a hacking organization based out of North Korea.
The FBI has confirmed that North Korean entities were behind the attack
In a press release, the FBI confidently stated that malicious entities originating from the DPRK were involved in the recently conducted theft.
“The FBI continues to combat malicious cyber activity, including the threat posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the U.S. and our private sector partners. Through our investigation, we were able to confirm Lazarus Group and APT38, cyber actors associated with the DPRK, are responsible for the theft of $620 million in Ethereum reported on March 29. The FBI, in coordination with Treasury and other U.S. government partners, will continue to expose and combat the DPRK’s use of illicit activities – including cybercrime and cryptocurrency theft – to generate revenue for the regime.”
Official statement, FBI
The statement also suggests that the North Korean Regime was in support of this. Meanwhile, the Department of Treasury has placed sanctions on the crypto wallet that had all of the money, preventing it from laundering the cash further. Considering the report that the state is backing those hackers, it might be possible that Lazarus could get away with this.
What are your thoughts about North Korean hackers’ involvement in the Axie Infinity blockchain heist? Let us know in the comments below!
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