Sky Mavis, the entity behind the widely acclaimed play-to-earn (P2E) game Axie Infinity, has achieved a significant breakthrough in recovering funds lost during the infamous Ronin Bridge incident of 2022. Collaborating closely with Norwegian authorities, Sky Mavis successfully retrieved $5.7 million from the incident.

The recovery, announced on June 7, involved Norway’s central unit for combating economic and environmental crimes, Økokrim, which took decisive action to freeze and return the misappropriated funds. The intricate process of recovery required a concerted effort involving law enforcement agencies, legal experts, financial professionals, and blockchain forensic teams such as Chainalysis.

Expressing gratitude, Sky Mavis publicly thanked the Norwegian government and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for their instrumental roles in tracking and retrieving the assets. The company highlighted the extensive coordination and collaboration necessary to achieve this significant milestone in combating cybercrime.

While some of the recovered funds will be directed towards covering the expenses incurred during the recovery operation, the majority, approximately 85%, will be returned to the Axie Infinity treasury. Sky Mavis emphasized its commitment to transparency by disclosing that 15% of the recovered assets would be allocated to covering costs related to the recovery efforts.

In addition to the $5.7 million successfully reclaimed, law enforcement authorities have frozen an additional $40 million in digital assets related to the Ronin Bridge incident. However, Sky Mavis cautioned that the process of recovering these frozen assets would require time, and there is currently no specific timeline for their return.

The Ronin Bridge hack, which occurred on March 29, 2022, stands as one of the most significant security breaches in the cryptocurrency space. The exploit resulted in the loss of 173,600 Ether (ETH) and 25.5 million USD Coin (USDC), valued at approximately $612 million at the time.

In response to the incident, Sky Mavis launched a vigorous effort to reimburse affected users, raising $150 million through a funding round led by crypto exchange Binance in April 2022. Additionally, the creators of Axie Infinity have taken proactive measures to enhance the security of the Ronin blockchain by expanding its validator network, including collaborations with industry giants like Google Cloud.

Despite the challenges posed by the Ronin Bridge incident, the Ronin blockchain continues to maintain its prominence as a leading platform for nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Ranked third among top blockchains by all-time NFT sales, Ronin remains a resilient and sought-after ecosystem for digital asset enthusiasts and creators alike.