Darknet Diaries Ep. 147: Tornado "Axie Infinity" is like many other online video games. You raise cute axolotls (salamander-like amphibians) and battle them against other players' creatures to level them up and earn rewards. The big difference is that "Axie" lives on the blockchain, and high level creatures are sold for big Ethereum bucks. $625 million dollars-worth of salamanders made the crypto game a ripe target for hackers, and its breach is arguably the biggest theft in history (digital AND physical). So, who pulled it off? And how was this whopping crypto haul laundered if everyone can see the blockchain? Author and security researcher Geoff White explains how the decentralized game got so valuable, how it was hacked, and why a valuable financial privacy tool got caught in the legal crossfire. This story comes from part of Geoff’s book “Rinsed” which goes into the world of money laundering. Get yours here https://amzn.to/3VJs7pb Visit https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/147/ for a list of sources, full transcripts, and to listen to all episodes.