According to a press launch revealed on Feb. 16 by Norway’s National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Økokrim), authorities have seized 60 million Norwegian Kroner ($5.85 million) in stolen cryptocurrencies linked to the Axie Infinity Ronin Bridge hack final March. According to senior public prosecutor Bender,
“Økokrim is good at following the trail of money. This case shows that we also have a great capacity to follow the money on the blockchain, even if the criminals use advanced methods.”
According to Bender, Økokrim labored with FBI brokers and the U.S. Department of Justice to trace the path of stolen digital belongings. “We as a society stand stronger in the fight against digital, profit-motivated crime,” she stated, “This is money that can support North Korea and their nuclear weapons program. It has therefore been important to track the cryptocurrency and try to stop the money when they try to withdraw it in physical value.” The U.S. Department of Justice recognized North-Korea backed Lazarus Group because the mastermind of the assault final April.
Authorities say that Sky Mavis, creator of the Axie Infinity NFT sport and Ronin Bridge, might be notified of the seizure in order that affected customers “get the money back to the greatest extent possible.” Following a hack valued over $600 million on the time of incident, Axie Infinity reopened its Ronin bridge in June 2022 after its founders, together with exterior funding from Binance, reimbursed customers a complete of 117,600 ETH and 25.5 million USD Coin (USDC). The remaining 56,000 stolen ETH belonged to the Axie DAO Treasury and stays undercollateralized as Sky Mavis “works with law enforcement to recover the funds.”
Content Source: cointelegraph.com
