Security News > 2023 > February > Norwegian police recover $5.8M crypto from massive Axie Infinity hack
Norwegian police have seized 60 million kroner worth of cryptocurrency stolen by the North Korean Lazarus hacking group last year from Axie Infinity's Ronin Bridge.
The seized cryptocurrency was stolen from Sky Mavis, the publisher of the blockchain-based game Axie Infinity, which suffered losses of $620 million in March 2022 after an attacker manipulated the game's Ronin bridge to gain partial control of its validators and perform two unauthorized transactions.
In September 2022, the FBI, with the help of blockchain experts, seized $30,000,000 worth of cryptocurrency stolen during the attack.
While the amount represented only 10% of the stolen cryptocurrency, the authorities promised that more seizures would follow.
"These are funds that can support North Korea and its nuclear weapons program. It has therefore been important to trace the cryptocurrency and try to stop the money when they try to convert it into physical assets." - M. Bender.
Of course, there's still a long way to go to retrieve the total stolen amount, but this new seizure is undoubtedly another blow for Lazarus and North Korea.