‘Axie Infinity’ CEO Moved $3 Million in Crypto Tokens Before Revealing Massive Hack

On March 23, hackers broke in Axie Infinity’s Ronin network to steal Ethereum and USDC stablecoins which were then worth over $600 million. In response to the massive theft, Axie Developer Sky Mavis Disabled Token Withdrawals – But Apparently Not Before CEO Moved To $3M Value Axie’s main token, AXS, into Binance. In accordance Bloombergcompany CEO and co-founder Trung Nguyen made the big transfer just hours before Sky Mavis revealed on March 29 that the play to earn game was hacked.

It was YouTube user Asobs who first identified the transaction and shared his documentation with it Bloomberg. The news organization then worked with an associate professor of mathematics at Winthrop University to confirm his findings. Asobs analyzed the transaction details and linked it to a wallet controlled by Nguyen based on previous transactions, such as the initial distribution of tokens for the game during its early years.

When asked, company spokeswoman Kalie Moore confirmed the transaction to Bloomberg. Moore said Nguyen made the transfer to bolster the company’s finances and ensure it could provide liquidity to users. Nguyen apparently had to do it on the down-low so people track official Axie wallets wouldn’t be able to show the news and withdraw money until the rest of the players even find out what’s going on.

Moore said:

“At that point, we (Sky Mavis) understood that our position and options would improve the more AXS we had on Binance. This would give us the flexibility to pursue different options to secure the loans/capital required. The founding team chose to transfer it from this wallet to ensure that short sellers, who track official Axie wallets, will not be able to show the news ahead of time.”

Nguyen posted a Twitter thread after Bloomberg’s the report went on to say that his team had been in contact with Binance after the hack was discovered to “ensure the user’s funds will be restored as soon as possible.” The executive added: “This discussion included the fact that Sky Mavis would provide liquidity while we worked to fully support the bridge.” He also called speculation about insider trading “baseless and false”.

IN Axie Infinitypeople can earn cryptocurrency by playing the game and completing tasks, such as winning Arena matches and breeding Axie monsters, which are non-fungible tokens. The attack on the Ronin network is now known as one of the largest in crypto history. According to earlier reporting by The block, bad actors gained entry into the system by sending a spyware-filled PDF to an employee who thought he was getting a higher-paying job offer from another company. It turns out that the company did not exist, and the offer, according to the US government, came from the North Korean hacker group Lazarus.

Sky Mavis has secured $150 million in funding to help refund users since then, and Nguyen said all players’ funds are now supported 1:1. However, the value of Ethereum has fallen significantly since March, so players will not get the money they could have if they had paid out months ago. As for the game itself, it reopened in late June with a new system to flag “large, suspicious withdrawals” and a new land staking feature that allows players to earn passive income.