According to a press release published on Feb. 16 by the Norwegian National Authority for the Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crimes (Økokrim), authorities have seized 60 million NOK ($5.85 million) in stolen cryptocurrency related to the hack. of Axie Infinity’s Ronin Bridge in March 2022. According to Senior Prosecutor Bender:
“Økokrim is good at following the money trail. This case shows that we also have a strong ability to follow money on a blockchain, even though criminals use advanced methods.”
According to Bender, Økokrim worked with agents from the FBI and the US Department of Justice to track down the stolen digital assets. “As a society, we are stronger in the fight against digital crime for profit,” she said. “This is money that can support North Korea and its nuclear weapons program. That’s why it’s been important to track cryptocurrency and try to stop the money when they try to withdraw it into physical assets.” The US Department of Justice identified the Lazarus Group, a North Korean-funded hacker collective, as the mastermind behind the attack in April.
Authorities say Sky Mavis, creator of the NFT game Axie Infinity and Ronin Bridge, will be notified of the seizure so that affected users “recover as much money as possible.”. Following a hack valued at over $600 million at the time of the attack, Axie Infinity reopened the Ronin Bridge in June 2022 after its founders, along with outside investment from Binance, refunded users a total of 117,600 ETH and 25.5 million USD Coin (USDC). The remaining 56,000 stolen ETH belonged to the Axie DAO treasury and remains unsecured while Sky Mavis “works with law enforcement to recover the funds.”
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