Ronin Network hit by $9.85M exploit but RON token surges 11%

Ronin Network co-founder Aleksander Larsen announced that the Ethereum sidechain has been temporarily paused to investigate a potential Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) exploit.

On Aug. 6, blockchain security firm Cyvers reported that an MEV bot siphoned 4,000 ETH, valued at $9.85 million, from the network.

Despite this incident, the network’s native RON token remains unaffected, rising over 10% in the past 24 hours to $1.39 amid a general crypto market uptrend, according to CryptoSlate’s data.

White hat hackers involved?

Security experts at Peckshield suggested that a white hat hacker carried out the attack.

Larsen corroborated this view, noting that the team was investigating reports from white hat hackers regarding a possible MEV exploit of the blockchain network linked to the popular play-to-earn game Axie Infinity.

He added:

“We will follow up with more information shortly. The bridge currently secures over $850 million which is safe.”

White hat hackers typically exploit software to find and fix security flaws, often returning stolen funds either for a reward or voluntarily. If this is the case, the funds may be returned to the platform.

Meanwhile, Cyvers noted that the address of the deployer of the Axie infinity contract has attempted to reach out to the “white hat” hacker by sending a message that reads:

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

Lax security?

Market experts have raised concerns about Ronin’s bridge security in light of the attack.

Blockchain analyst ZachXBT highlighted previous significant breaches, including a 2022 exploit involving 173,600 Ethereum, worth over $615 million, and the recent $9.7 million hack of the platform’s co-founder Jeff Zirlin in February 2024.

He stated:

“[These attacks] just show mismanagement, if anything. The first and second hack were Lazarus Group private key compromises.”

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