Hack history / 2022 / Hack or exploit
Ronin Bridge
Hack or exploit on Mar 23, 2022 · Validator Key Compromised
ATTRIBUTEDLEGAL ACTIONATTACK TX CONFIRMED ON CHAINSOURCES DISAGREE ON DATE OR LOSS · 5 SOURCES
Lost
$624M
official: $620M
Returned
$5.7M
1% of the loss, as a source states it
Rank
#5
among thefts by dollars lost
What happened
On March 23, 2022 the Ronin Network bridge (connecting Axie Infinity sidechain to Ethereum) suffered the largest cryptocurrency theft in history when attackers compromised validator node private keys, gaining control of 5 of 9 validators and using the majority to approve fraudulent withdrawals of 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC ($624M total). The breach was discovered six days later on March 29.
Details
- Date
- Mar 23, 2022
- Kind
- Hack or exploit
- Method
- Validator Key Compromised
- How in
- Keys, accounts and infrastructure
- Target
- DeFi protocol
- Chains
- Ethereum
- Audit (rekt.news)
- unaudited
- Attributed to
- North Korea (Lazarus Group, APT38)
After the theft
- Recovered or frozen
- $5.7M
“$625.0M taken, $619.3M after recovery or freezing” (Web3 Is Going Great)
Legal action
- 2023-03-15 · Takedown · US DOJ: Justice Department Investigation Leads to Takedown of Darknet Cryptocurrency Mixer that Processed Over $3 Billion of Unlawful Transactions ↗
US Department of Justice press releases that name this incident. A charge is an allegation; defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Reported by
Related incidents
Cite this page
SwanBluechip, "Ronin Bridge hack, Mar 23, 2022: $624M lost", Crypto hack history, https://swan-hack-tracker.pages.dev/history/i/ht713c7a4aa2/ (data as of 2026-11-01).