On February 16th, Norway’s National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Okokrim) announced that they have confiscated 60 million Norwegian kroner ($5.85 million) worth of digital coins related to the Axie Infinity Ronin Bridge hack in March 2022. This signals a significant step forward towards justice being served after such an egregious security breach.
These Stolen Coins Fund North Korea’s Nuclear Program
Senior Public Prosecutor Marianne Bender proudly proclaimed that, while Okokrim is renowned for their ability to track the trail of money, this case exemplifies their mastery in following funds on the blockchain– even when criminals utilize sophisticated strategies. She also detailed how they teamed up with Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and U.S. Department of Justice personnel to successfully trace stolen digital assets.
“By halting digital, gain-oriented crime,” she declared, “our society has become more resilient. This money is actively sustaining North Korea and its nuclear weapons program. To prevent this from occurring, we must follow the cryptocurrency’s transactions and get it before they attempt to turn it into physical currency. In April 2022, The U.S Department of Justice determined Lazarus Group (an organization with ties to North Korea) as responsible for the attack.”
Axie Infinity Will be Notified of this Development Immediately
Concerning the recent hack that cost over $600 million, Okokrim has disclosed plans to inform Sky Mavis (the creator of Axie Infinity and Ronin Bridge), so they can attempt to bring back the stolen funds. Fortunately, in June 2022, a successful repayment was made with external investments from Binance, which returned a total of 117,600 Ether and 25.5 million USD coins across all affected users. The remaining 56,000 ETH stolen from the Axie DAO Treasury still remains uncovered as Sky Mavis works with law enforcement to attempt to recover them.
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