Binance Recovers $5.8 Million from $600 Million Ronin Bridge Exploit
Welcome back to the Tribe! In this post we take a look back at recent news over a hack called the Ronin Bridge Exploit and what is being done now after the fact.
Nothing should be considered investment or financial advice. Enjoy the ride!
Ronin Bridge Exploit
About $5.8 million from the funds stolen in the Ronin bridge hack have been frozen on Binance, says Changpeng Zhao. The exchange supposedly spotted the suspicious activity across several accounts and linked the funds to the alleged North Korean hacker group Lazarus.
The exploit remains one of the biggest in DeFi history with over $600 million in cryptocurrencies stolen. Ronin has since resumed activities on the bridge and continues to attempt recovery of the funds in collaboration with law enforcement and industry stakeholders like exchanges.
Ronin’s Operator Sky Mavis also recently raised $150 million from Binance and other investors as part of a reimbursement package for affected users.
Search For Missing Ronin Funds Rages On
A portion of the funds stolen during the recent Ronin sidechain exploit has been seized from a multitude of accounts on a major exchange.
According to a tweet published on Friday (April 22, 2022) by Binance Chief Operating Officer Changpeng Zhao, the world’s leading exchange by trading volume has restricted some 86 accounts suspected of being affiliated with North Korean hackers.
Details from the report said a total of $5.8 million out of the $600 million stolen by hackers was seized from the aforementioned number of user wallets on the exchange. While Binance did not disclose the identities of the account owners, CZ opined that the funds are indeed from the Ronin hack. CZ’s post from Friday reads:
The DPRK hacking group started to move their Axie Infinity stolen funds today. Part of it made to Binance, spread across over 86 accounts. $5.8M has been recovered. We done this many times for other projects in the past too. Stay #SAFU.
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) April 22, 2022
“The DPRK hacking group started to move their Axie Infinity stolen funds today. Part of it made to Binance, spread across over 86 accounts. $5.8M has been recovered. We done this many times for other projects in the past too. Stay #SAFU.”
Sentiment amongst crypto commentators and proponents on social media suggests that the hackers moved spoke of the funds to Binance in an attempt to leverage the fiat-off ramp or P2P facilities on the exchange.
Blockchain security firm PeckShield also noted that the hackers have aggressively deployed the Tornado Cash protocol in a bid to obscure the origins of the tokens and possibly move them off the blockchain in exchange for cash.
#PeckShieldAlert As of today (April 9, 2022), the @Ronin_Network exploiter has already laundered 7.5% of the stolen funds via @TornadoCash and still holds ~159,710ETH ($512m) in his wallet: https://t.co/yCVPaHXWYj. pic.twitter.com/Ra4AsJ3kWd
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) April 9, 2022
“#PeckShieldAlert As of today (April 9, 2022), the @Ronin_Network exploiter has already laundered 7.5% of the stolen funds via @TornadoCash and still holds ~159,710ETH ($512m) in his wallet”
US Treasury Adds Three North Korean-linked Ethereum Addresses To Sanctions List
Following the Ronin hack, American authorities said investigations led officials to believe that Lazarus, a North Korean-based cybercriminal group was responsible for the exploit. The US Treasury subsequently added an alleged Lazarus-controlled address to their sanctions list.
On Friday, the department provided an update on the matter saying additional addresses have been added to the list:
“OFAC added 3 virtual currency wallet addresses to the SDN Listing for Lazarus Group. The DPRK has relied on illicit activities like cybercrime to generate revenue while trying to evade US & UN sanctions. Transacting w/ these risks exposure to US sanctions”
Other News – Binance Leaves Blockchain Association
Binance US has left the Blockchain Association with immediate effect. The American affiliate of the world’s biggest crypto exchange said a distance existed between the goals and ideals of both entities. The announcement comes just two years after Binance US initially joined the association back in 2020
Ronin Bridge Exploit News
Thanks for reading our post on Ronin Bridge exploit update! As the market continues to go up, there will only end up being more and more hacks, so make sure to always protect your crypto!
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