London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Nov 16, 2025

CoinDesk exec says latest crypto heist 'one of the biggest' in history

CoinDesk exec says latest crypto heist 'one of the biggest' in history

Pete Pachal, CoinDesk's chief of staff for the content team, weighed in on "one of the biggest hacks in crypto history" on Wednesday, arguing that the gaming-focused Ronin Network's announcement of a security breach shows that "things start to get a little dicey" when moving further away from core cryptocurrency products.

Pachal provided the insight on "Mornings with Maria" one day after Ronin Network announced a loss of over $625 million in USDC and ether, CoinDesk reported, noting that the hack impacted Ronin Network validator nodes for the publishers of the popular Axie Infinity game, Sky Mavis, and the Axie DAO.

"The attacker used hacked private keys in order to forge fake withdrawals," a Ronin Network blog post published on Tuesday noted, adding that while the network has safety tools in place to protect against hacks like this, "the attacker found a backdoor."

Pachal argued that what the hack shows is that "not all blockchains are created equal."

"This has more to do with the hack on the Axie Infinity network as opposed to a hack on primary blockchain like Bitcoin or Ether," he went on to note.

The Ronin Network blog post noted that the network is "working with law enforcement officials, forensic cryptographers, and our investors to make sure all funds are recovered or reimbursed."

Pachal noted that federal authorities have been cracking down on security breaches like this.

"Recently we’ve seen the Feds put big charges on the Bitfinex [cryptocurrency exchange] hack from 2016, which was another big crypto hack," he noted

In February, the Department of Justice announced, two people were arrested for an alleged conspiracy to launder cryptocurrency that was stolen during the 2016 hack of Bitfinex, valued at about $4.5 billion. THE DOJ noted that as of February, law enforcement seized more than $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency linked to that hack.


Pachal also pointed out that a lot of stolen funds "were reversed" from the hack of the Poly Network, a decentralized finance platform that helps link blockchains together,

He noted that the Poly Network hack is the "biggest" crypto heist in history.

Poly Network announced in August that almost all of the $610 million stolen had been returned by the unknown person or persons behind the attack, Reuters reported at the time.

"A lot of people assume that you can get away with this because it’s crypto, but actually the Feds and analysis companies are getting really good about tracing these hacks and seeing that the people who perpetrate them are brought to justice," Pachal said. "It’s getting better and better all the time."

Comments

Oh ya 4 year ago
Something about if you don't hold it you don't own it comes to mind. It is likely government hackers doing this to break your faith in private crypto so when they announce government crypto the lemmings with jump for it. If you want your life controlled like those in china, north korea they sign up for goverment crypto

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Nearly Half of Job Losses Under Labour Government Affect UK Youth
UK Chancellor Reeves Eyes High-Value Home Levy in Budget to Raise Tens of Billions
UK Urges Poland to Choose Swedish Submarines in Multi-Billion € Defence Bid
US Border Czar Tom Homan Declares UK No Longer a ‘Friend’ Amid Intelligence Rift
UK Announces Reversal of Income Tax Hike Plans Ahead of Budget
Starmer Faces Mounting Turmoil as Leaked Briefings Ignite Leadership Plot Rumours
UK Commentator Sami Hamdi Returns Home After US Visa Revocation and Detention
UK Eyes Denmark-Style Asylum Rules in Major Migration Shift
UK Signals Intelligence Freeze Amid US Maritime Drug-Strike Campaign
TikTok Awards UK & Ireland 2025 Celebrates Top Creators Including Max Klymenko as Creator of the Year
UK Growth Nearly Stalls at 0.1% in Q3 as Cyberattack Halts Car Production
Apple Denied Permission to Appeal UK App Store Ruling, Faces Over £1bn Liability
UK Chooses Wylfa for First Small Modular Reactors, Drawing Sharp U.S. Objection
Starmer Faces Growing Labour Backlash as Briefing Sparks Authority Crisis
Reform UK Withdraws from BBC Documentary Amid Legal Storm Over Trump Speech Edit
UK Prime Minister Attempts to Reassert Authority Amid Internal Labour Leadership Drama
UK Upholds Firm Rules on Stablecoins to Shield Financial System
Brussels Divided as UK-EU Reset Stalls Over Budget Access
Prince Harry’s Remembrance Day Essay Expresses Strong Regret at Leaving Britain
UK Unemployment Hits 5% as Wage Growth Slows, Paving Way for Bank of England Rate Cut
Starmer Warns of Resurgent Racism in UK Politics as He Vows Child-Poverty Reforms
UK Grocery Inflation Slows to 4.7% as Supermarkets Launch Pre-Christmas Promotions
UK Government Backs the BBC amid Editing Scandal and Trump Threat of Legal Action
UK Assessment Mis-Estimated Fallout From Palestine Action Ban, Records Reveal
UK Halts Intelligence Sharing with US Amid Lethal Boat-Strike Concerns
King Charles III Leads Britain in Remembrance Sunday Tribute to War Dead
UK Retail Sales Growth Slows as Households Hold Back Ahead of Black Friday and Budget
Shell Pulls Out of Two UK Floating Wind Projects Amid Renewables Retreat
Viagogo Hit With £15 Million Tax Bill After HMRC Transfer-Pricing Inquiry
Jaguar Land Rover Cyberattack Pinches UK GDP, Bank of England Says
UK and Germany Sound Alarm on Russian-Satellite Threat to Critical Infrastructure
Former Prince Andrew Faces U.S. Congressional Request for Testimony Amid Brexit of Royal Title
BBC Director-General Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness Resign Amid Editing Controversy
Tom Cruise Arrives by Helicopter at UK Scientology Fundraiser Amid Local Protests
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson Face Fresh UK Probes Amid Royal Fallout
Mothers Link Teen Suicides to AI Chatbots in Growing Legal Battle
UK Government to Mirror Denmark’s Tough Immigration Framework in Major Policy Shift
UK Government Turns to Denmark-Style Immigration Reforms to Overhaul Border Rules
UK Chancellor Warned Against Cutting Insulation Funding as Budget Looms
UK Tenant Complaints Hit Record Levels as Rental Sector Faces Mounting Pressure
Apple to Pay Google About One Billion Dollars Annually for Gemini AI to Power Next-Generation Siri
UK Signals Major Shift as Nuclear Arms Race Looms
BBC’s « Celebrity Traitors UK » Finale Breaks Records with 11.1 Million Viewers
UK Spy Case Collapse Highlights Implications for UK-Taiwan Strategic Alignment
On the Road to the Oscars? Meghan Markle to Star in a New Film
A Vote Worth a Trillion Dollars: Elon Musk’s Defining Day
AI Researchers Claim Human-Level General Intelligence Is Already Here
President Donald Trump Challenges Nigeria with Military Options Over Alleged Christian Killings
Nancy Pelosi Finally Announces She Will Not Seek Re-Election, Signalling End of Long Congressional Career
UK Pre-Budget Blues and Rate-Cut Concerns Pile Pressure on Pound
×