In March 2022, the popular video game Axie Infinity was the victim of a massive hack resulting in the loss of over $600 million. Fortunately, security organizations have been working hard to slowly recover the assets stolen by the hackers. Yesterday, police in Norway announced that they have recovered approximately $5.9 million of the assets stolen from the Axie Ronin Bridge by the hackers.
Norwegian police get their hands on assets stolen from Axie Infinity
The Norwegian National Police Authority, Økokrim announced on February 16, that it has seized 60 million kroner, or about $5.9 million in cryptocurrencies stolen from Axie Infinity by hackers. This is a first for the Norwegian police, who had never made a seizure of this nature.
Økokrim does not intend to leave it at that and has stated that it will do everything in its power to seize all the funds the hackers will try to withdraw.
According to local Norwegian media outlet VG, state prosecutor Marianne Bender said that the seizure of 60 million kroner in cryptocurrencies stolen from Axie Infinity proves the great ability of Norwegian authorities to follow the money on the blockchain. Despite the sophisticated methods of the criminals.
This case proves that we are able to follow the movement of funds on the blockchain, even if the criminals use advanced methods.
From the press release
As a result, the National Authority for the Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Økokrim) announced its intention to contact Axie Infinity‘s parent company, Sky Mavis, to return the seized sum.
Axie Infinity, a ray of hope for the future after a major financial setback
Since March 2022, Axie Infinity, a reference in this sector of Play2Earn,has been facing a major financial setback. The Ronin Bridge, which connects Ethereum and Axie Infinity, was the target of a hack that resulted in significant financial losses for the company.
The hack resulted in the loss of 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC, totaling about $600 million at the time, making it one of the largest hacks of the past year.
Since then, investigators continue to meticulously follow the trail of stolen funds. In any case, the transparency of blockchain technology has not made it easy for the Lazarus group, the alleged perpetrators of these hacks. Nevertheless, a glimmer of hope appeared in September 2022, when the company Chainalysis managed to recover a sum of $ 30 million, offering a respite to Axie Infinity. Now, collaboration with the Norwegian police greatly increases the chances of recovering the rest of the stolen funds.
Although there is still a long way to go to recover all the losses, this financial recovery marks a major turning point for the video game. It could pave the way for Axie Infinity to grow and prosper in the future.
As a journalist at Coinpri, I’ve been captivated by the world of bitcoin and blockchain since 2020. The decentralized aspect of Bitcoin particularly piqued my interest. Since then, I’ve been working constantly to spread my knowledge, hoping one day to see a world where everyone fully enjoys their financial freedom.
