Ronin Network Hit by $9.8M Exploit, White Hat Possible

A possible exploit costing Ronin Network $9.8 million in Ether has resulted in another high-profile cryptocurrency breach in 2024.

If a white hat hacker was responsible for the exploit, the money might quickly be added to the blockchain.

One of the most well-known gaming blockchains, the network, lost 3,996 Ether ETH $2,447 coins, which were valued at more than $9.8 million.

However, according to a PeckShield X post dated August 6 August 6, the exploit might have come from an ethical hacker, or “white hat” hacker, who uses exploits to identify a crypto protocol’s weaknesses.

White hat hackers reimburse the monies they have taken after identifying a vulnerability and demonstrating that the code is flawed. The funds might be securely returned soon if the Ronin attacker proves to be an ethical hacker.

Hackers with malevolent intent frequently reimburse stolen money. A hacker gave back $71 million in cryptocurrency to the victim in May after the high-profile event attracted much attention and exposed the hacker’s possible intellectual property.

Did a white hat MEV bot steal the $9.8 million?

The exploit appears to have been created by a maximal extractable value (MEV) bot, a piece of software that validators employ to research arbitrage opportunities throughout decentralized finance, which lends a hopeful note to the event.

MEV bots frequently inadvertently take advantage of a protocol flaw because they automatically apply arbitrage techniques.

Examining the $9.8 million transaction on the Ronin bridge in more detail shows that the MEV bot “0x4ab” carried it out.

Blockchain evidence indicates that the MEV bot sent 3.9 Ether tokens, or a small portion of the cash, to wallet “0x952,” also called “beaver build.”

The July $7.6 million Rho Markets exploit was likewise caused by MEV bots. Within a week, the process found all of the missing money.

As mentioned by Cyvers in an August 6 August 6 X post, the hack was verified to have originated from an MEV bot based on a message provided to the address by the Axie infinite contract deployer:

“Hey, thanks a lot for white hat saving user funds today. Can we chat over Blockscan chat?”

Two thousand twenty-four cryptocurrency hacks may surpass 2023.

Given that $542.7 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen in the first quarter of 2024—a 42% increase over the same time in 2023—it is possible that 2024 will surpass 2023 regarding cryptocurrency hacks.

Following the second-largest cryptocurrency breach of 2024—which saw an unidentified hacker take over $230 million from WazirX, an Indian cryptocurrency exchange—July proved to be incredibly awful for the sector.

Since then, the hacker has attempted to channel the money taken. In an apparent attempt to pay out, the WazirX hacker combined $57 million in ETH into new crypto addresses on July 22 July 22.

In July, there were sixteen distinct crypto hacks totaling over $266 million, with WazirX being the biggest.