Ronin Network, a popular blockchain platform known for hosting games like Axie Infinity, fell victim to a major exploit on August 6th. Reports indicated that a hacker managed to access and steal 3,996 ETH, equivalent to $9.8 million, from the blockchain.
However, there is a twist in the story. Blockchain security company PeckShield shed light on the exploit and suggested that it might have been carried out by a white hat hacker. These ethical hackers discover vulnerabilities in code and exploit them to raise awareness among developers, helping them fix the issues before cybercriminals can exploit them. They typically return the stolen assets to demonstrate the weaknesses in the system.
The speculation about the involvement of a white hat hacker arose from the wallet address linked to the exploit on Etherscan. The $9.8 million stolen from Ronin was transferred to a wallet named ‘MEV Bot: 0x4ab,’ which then sent a smaller amount of 3.9 ETH to another wallet called ‘beaverbuild.’
In a surprising turn of events, an Axie Infinity deployer left a message on the blockchain, thanking the individual(s) behind the MEV bot for potentially saving user funds through their actions. The message also invited them to chat over Blockscan chat.
While it appears that the funds may be returned to the Ronin Network, this incident is not an isolated case in the industry. Just last month, Rho Markets faced a similar exploit involving MEV bots, where $7.6 million was taken but eventually returned to the protocol within a week.
Unfortunately, not all crypto platforms have been as fortunate. The rise in crypto crimes has been alarming, especially with the growing market capitalization of digital assets this year. In July, WazirX, an Indian cryptocurrency exchange, was hacked for $230 million, making it one of the largest breaches in the industry. Overall, July witnessed a total of $266 million being stolen from various protocols and service providers, with WazirX bearing the brunt of the losses.