Axie-Infinity developer to reimburse hack victims, restart Ronin

People using their mobile phones to play Axie Infinity in Malabon, suburban Manila. Hackers stole 173,600 Ether and 25.5 million USDC tokens from the bridge known as Ronin, which let users swap between different blockchain’s coins. — AFP

Sky Mavis Inc, the developer of the play-to-earn Axie Infinity video game that lost more than US$620mil (RM2.73bil) during a March hack, said it expects on June 28 to reimburse users and reopen the software bridge breached in the attack.

Hackers stole 173,600 Ether and 25.5 million USDC tokens from the bridge known as Ronin, which let users swap between different blockchain’s coins. Overall, the tokens are now valued at about US$216.5mil (RM954mil) in the wake of the tumble in cryptocurrency prices since the attack took place.

Users can withdrawal one Ether for each one they held in March once the bridge reopens, a spokeswoman for Sky Mavis said in a statement. The 56,000 Ether tokens missing from the Axie Infinity-related DAO, or decentralised autonomous organisation’s treasury, will remain uncollateralised.

Sky Mavis pledged in March to reimburse online participants who lost funds. The firm raised US$150mil (RM660.97mil) in a funding round led by crypto exchange Binance in April. At the time, the firm said it planned to use the money and Sky Mavis’s and Axie Infinity’s own resources to reimburse Ronin bridge users. – Bloomberg