Quick take:
- The round will be combined with Sky Mavis’ balance sheet funds to reimburse all users affected by the Ronin hack.
- The Ronin Network will be open after undergoing a security upgrade and multiple audits.
- Sky Mavis is implementing internal security measures to prevent future attacks.
Axie Infinity creator Sky Mavis has raised $150 million in funding led by Binance to restore stolen funds on the Ronin Bridge. Others who participated in the round include major Web3 venture capital firms such as Animoca Brands, a16z, Dialectic, Paradigm and Accel.
The round, combined with Sky Mavis’ balance sheet funds, will be used to restore funds on the Ronin bridge and reimburse all users affected by the hack. This comes after Sky Mavis’ Aleksander Leonard Larsen pledged to ensure that all drained funds are recovered or reimbursed.
Sky Mavis’ Ronin validator nodes and Axie DAO validator nodes were breached on Mar 23, resulting in 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5 million USDC (worth $625 million at the time) drained from the Ronin bridge.
According to crypto security firm Peckshield, approximately 1700 ETH from the Ronin exploiters have been moved to Ethereum DeFi protocol, Tornado Cash.
The blockchain gaming company said that the attack was socially engineered and investigations are still ongoing. According to Sky Mavis, the root cause of the breach was a small validator set which made the compromise of the network much easier.
To rectify that, Sky Mavis will onboard up to 21 validators within the next three months, split between various stakeholders in the Axie community who will work together to manage an open-source codebase.
Sky Mavis will open the Ronin Network after it undergoes a security upgrade and multiple audits, which can take several weeks.
In the meantime, Binance has opened ETH/USDC withdrawals and deposits which will enable most users to withdraw and deposit funds. Once the Ronin Network is opened, users will be able to withdraw their funds.
Sky Mavis is working with law enforcement to recover the funds and will keep the 56,000 ETH stolen from the Axie DAO treasury undercollateralized. The Axie DAO will vote on the next steps for the treasury if the funds are not fully recovered within two years.
“Sky Mavis is committed to reimbursing all of our users’ funds and implementing rigorous internal security measures to prevent future attacks. With Binance supporting us, we will be able to expand the validator set from five to 21 on an expedited timeline, which ensures the security of the Ronin network,” said Sky Mavis CEO, Trung Nguyen. “As a team, we have made an intentional decision to focus on what lies ahead, starting with tomorrow’s launch of Axie Infinity: Origin.”
The launch of Axie Infinity: Origin is delayed by a week as the Axie Infinity team investigates the implications of the Ronin hack, and will be available to play via Mavis Hub tomorrow.
Nguyen added that Sky Mavis is “thrilled to collaborate with Binance NFT on future projects” that include exclusive NFT land sales, and enable Binance login via The Mavis Hub.
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