TronWeekly

Crypto World News

You are here: Home / Archives for Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity

Finally, Ronin Bridge Comes Back to Life After 3 Months

by

Three months after the Ronin Bridge was breached for more than $600 million, Sky Mavis, the creators of the well-known play-to-earn (P2E) nonfungible token (NFT) game Axie Infinity, stated that the bridge is back up.

Users can move assets between the sidechain and the Ethereum mainnet via the Ronin bridge, an Ethereum sidechain created for Axie Infinity.

On March 29, 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC were removed from the bridge after hackers were able to somehow get access to private validator keys. The hack was valued at around $620 million at the time.

Ronin Bridge is back online after three audits

The Sky Mavis team said on Tuesday that the Ronin bridge is now operational following three audits (one internal and two external), a redesigned layout, and complete restitution of users’ stolen assets:

By providing the ETH liquidity to support customers’ Wrapped ETH (wETH) on the Ronin network, Sky Mavis has already refunded 117,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC in total.

Due to Binance’s offering of a bridge to its exchange that let users to convert their wETH to ETH, some 46,000 of those ETH had already been paid out as of April.

Liquidity for the purchase was provided by the founders’ cash and the remaining amount at Axie Infinity. Binance also organized a $150 million investment round to help Sky Mavis pay back Axie Infinity consumers.

The remaining 56,000 of the total stolen ETH are owned by the Axie DAO Treasury and will remain uncollateralized as Sky Mavis “works with legal authorities to collect the money.”

Sky Mavis has upgraded the smart contract software as part of the revised bridge architecture to allow validators to establish daily withdrawal limitations, with the starting amount set at $50 million at this time. Additionally, the company put in place a circuit breaker system that categorizes withdrawals into three groups.

Sky Mavis recognized that the Ronin bridge had been vulnerable to the assault because of its lack of decentralization in a postmortem investigation that was published in late April. There were now only nine validator nodes, and only four of them were usable by employees.

After quickly increasing the number of nodes to 11, Sky Mavis announced intentions to do the same within three months of the autopsy, bringing the total number of nodes to at least 21, with the long-term goal of topping 100.

In the most recent statement, the team did not offer an update on the number of validator nodes that the Ronin network presently has.

Crypto Mixer Blender Slapped With Sanction For Its Role In $620M Axie Infinity Hack

by

Centralized crypto mixer Blender.io got hit with first of its kind sanctions over its alleged role in the infamous $620 million online gaming platform Axie Infinity by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control [OFAC].

As per the press release, Blender was used in processing over $20.5 million of the stolen funds, carried out by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea [DPRK] sponsored cyber hackers, Lazarus Group.

The P.A also mentioned that the treasury will update the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons [SDN List] to identify additional digital currency addresses used by the Lazarus Group to launder illicit proceeds. 

Treasury is committed to exposing components of the virtual currency ecosystem, like Blender, that are critical to the obfuscation of the trail of stolen proceeds from illicit cyber activity, the blog post read.

tommao wang cobho97xHII unsplash
Crypto Mixer Blender Slapped With Sanction For Its Role In $620M Axie Infinity Hack 2

Reeling under severe pressure from U.S. and UN sanctions, the DPRK has fallen back on illicit activities, including cyber-enabled heists from cryptocurrency exchanges and financial institutions, to fuel its unlawful weapons of mass destruction [WMD] and ballistic missile programs, the treasury dept claimed.

Cryptocurrency mixers that assist illicit transactions will be severely dealt with- US Secretary

Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson stated,

Today, for the first time ever, Treasury is sanctioning a virtual currency mixer. Virtual currency mixers that assist illicit transactions pose a threat to U.S. national security interests. We are taking action against illicit financial activity by the DPRK and will not allow state-sponsored thievery and its money-laundering enablers to go unanswered.

Earlier TronWeekly covered an article where UN officials in a media briefing alleged that North Korea used stolen digital assets worth several millions of dollars to fund its nuclear and ballistic missile program.

It also mentioned that between 2020 and mid-2021 cyber-attackers originating from the nation stole more than $50 million of digital assets.

A study published by online security platform Chainalysis suggested that North Korean cybercriminals could have netted a staggering $400 million worth of cryptos last year.

Despite imposing massive sanctions, the UN report says North Korea continues to seek material, technology, and know-how overseas, including through cyber means and joint scientific research.

Post the $600M Ronin Hack the Team Is Sprucing up its Security Measures

by

Following the $600 million Ronin attack late last month, the Ronin Network and Sky Mavis have promised to improve their smart contracts, pay large bug bounties, and tighten up security.

An exploit for 173,600 Ether (ETH) and 25.5 million USD Coin (USDC), valued at more than $612 million at the time, was discovered on the Ethereum sidechain designed for the popular NFT game Axie Infinity.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) blamed the attack on Lazarus, a North Korean-based and state-sponsored hacking gang. It issued a warning to other crypto and blockchain companies earlier this month.

History of the Ronin attack

Sky Mavis’ Ronin validator nodes and Axie DAO validator nodes were hacked on March 23rd, causing a loss of 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5 million USDC from the Ronin bridge.

The hack happened on March 23rd, 2022, and the Sky Mavis team detected it on March 29th. The team didn’t have a robust tracking system in place to monitor massive discharges from the bridge; the rupture didn’t go unnoticed for long.  

In order to fabricate bogus withdrawals, the attacker gained possession of five of the nine validator private keys – four Sky Mavis validators and one Axie DAO.

The Security upgrades under the sleeve

The Ronin Network intends to reopen its bridge by mid-to-late May, with Binance providing withdrawal and deposit infrastructure for Axie users until then.

The team is around 80% done with the Ronin bridge smart contracts upgrade; they’ll be redesigning the backend, transferring all outstanding withdrawals, and providing a validator dashboard that “allows for approving huge transactions and adding/removing new validators,” according to the team.

Sky Mavis will beef up its security measures by enlisting the support of “top tier security specialists,” undertaking contract audits, and putting in place more robust internal processes, including training classes to “fight external attacks.”

It will also significantly increase its node count in order to assist in decentralizing the project. Sky Mavis plans to expand the number from nine to eleven in the next three months. The initiative hopes to have more than 100 nodes in the long run.

Sky Mavis will also provide up to $1 million in bug bounties to any white hat hackers who can uncover new vulnerabilities.

Ronin Bridge’s Lost Assets on the Move

by

Ronin’s lost assets are on the move. There has been some movement on the blockchain address that was linked to the Axie Infinity Ronin bridge hack earlier this month.

Several transactions have been made from the suspicious Ethereum address in the last several hours. The first was the transfer of 1,000 ETH worth about $3.5 million to a different address.

Several additional 100-ETH transactions followed, all of which went to the Tornado Cash Ethereum mixing service. On Monday morning, Chinese crypto expert Colin Wu spotted the changes.

Hackers move the funds in stealth

Criminals infrequently utilize major exchanges since most of them now have stringent KYC (know-your-customer) processes. Even companies that do not supply fiat conversions have been forced to comply with international regulations.

Malicious actors are more likely to try to conceal transactions many times before eventually cashing out into fiat elsewhere. According to the founder of Immutable Vision, this might lead to stricter rules and penalties for genuine investors.

“When private blockchains fail, they serve as ammo for tougher rules, affecting genuine retail and institutional investors,” says the author.

This is precisely what has occurred to traditional banking, which has become a maze of regulations and bureaucracy for the everyday person.

Ronin Bridge suffered major losses

In late March, the Ronin Bridge, which allows cross-chain transfers to and from the Axie Infinity environment, was hacked for about $610 million. The firm behind Axie Infinity, Sky Mavis, has recently indicated that it is entirely committed to compensating the victims of the massive crime.

The hack demonstrates how vulnerable bridges are too hostile parties. According to experts, they are powered by untested computer code, leaving them vulnerable to hackers. Furthermore, the names of the validators/nodes who execute the transactions are unknown, making it difficult to trace down suspects.

A developer, Kelvin Fichter, thought the Ronin Bridge was overly reliant on validator-based bridges, which he called a “fundamental mistake.” The network’s “minimum monitoring and alerting” mechanism, according to Fichter, gave the hackers a good foundation to start their attack.

Axie Infinity Promises to Recover All $600 M of the Lost Funds to Its Users

by

The parent firm of Axie Infinity, which was recently the victim of an unprecedented $600 million crypto-hack, has announced that consumers who lost money in the robbery will be reimbursed.

Sky Mavis’ chief operational officer, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, told Bloomberg, “We are absolutely committed to reimbursing our gamers as quickly as feasible.” “We’re still working on a solution; that’s something we’re talking about right now.”

According to a blog post published Tuesday, a hacker broke into the Ronin Network’s network, stealing 173,600 ether and 25.5 million USDC stablecoins. It affected the Sky Mavis game studio’s Ronin Network validator nodes.

“We’re collaborating with law enforcement, forensic cryptographers, and our investors to ensure that all money is recovered or refunded,” Ronin Network wrote.

Axie Infinity suffered one of the biggest DeFi hacks

“In order to fabricate false withdrawals, the attacker exploited compromised private keys.”

Funds stolen in the crypto hack include “deposits of players and speculators and the Axie Infinity Treasury revenue,” Larsen said. 

The assault took place on March 23, but the corporation just found out about it on Tuesday.

Axie Infinity is still one of the most popular play-to-earn games, and gamers continued to come in on Wednesday after the crypto theft was revealed.

To drain cash in two separate transactions, hackers exploited a weakness in the bridge — a software mechanism for transferring different types of crypto tokens.

“The simplest way to think about it is that the bridge is the Ronin Network’s bank,” Larsen explained.

“The robbery that occurred resulted in the loss of all ETH and USDC. As a result, the ETH/USDC on Ronin Network is temporarily unbacked. However, we are considering alternative solutions.”

Hackers struck Poly Network in August 2021, stealing almost $600 million from the cross-chain protocol, while most of the assets were later restored.

The native cryptocurrency used on the Ronin blockchain, RON, was down roughly 20% following the hack.

The team updated the blog with updates about the current works that they are doing to catch the culprit. They are in close contact with key stakeholders and law enforcement to ensure that the funds will be recovered.

How did a $600M Hack of a Blockchain Bridge go unnoticed for almost a week?

by

Popular online game Axie infinity’s bridge called Ronin Network suffered an exploit losing more than half a billion funds in one of the biggest crypto attacks to date. The breach took place on March 23 but was discovered only on 30 March, Tuesday, according to the blog, published by Ronin detailing the incident.

So what exactly happened?

Blockchain bridge is software that enables cross-chain communication allowing tokens to be transferred. Attackers drained 173,600 Ether and 25.5 million USDC tokens from the network in two transactions. The stolen funds were siphoned off in two cryptocurrency exchanges, according to blockchain forensics firm Elliptic.

Ronin in its blog said it’s in contact with several cryptocurrency exchanges along with blockchain data analytic Chainalysis to monitor the movement of the stolen funds. The network also stated that it’s working with law enforcement agencies.

Following the incident, the price of Ronin’s token RON took a steep fall of 22%. AXS, of Axie Infinity, too reacted by losing as much as 11%, according to CoinMarketCap.  

Blockchain bridges have some major flaws

The attack highlights how bridges are susceptible to malicious actors. Experts say that these are run by unaudited computer codes, making them vulnerable to attackers. On top of that, the identities of validators/nodes, who run the transactions are not known, which makes it difficult to track suspects.

Expressing surprise, Wilfred Daye, head of Securitize Capital, the asset-management arm of Securitize Inc. said, “The fact that nobody notices for six days scream aloud that some structure should be in place to watch illicit transfers.” Another red flag, according to Tom Robinson, co-founder of Elliptic, is the bridge’s centralized architecture.

“In this case, the issue was that the bridge was highly centralized, the theft came as a result of someone hacking the ‘validator nodes’ of the Ronin Bridge. “Funds can be moved out of the bridge if five of the nine validators approve it. The hacker managed to get hold of the private cryptographic keys belonging to five of the validators so that was enough to steal the crypto assets.”

Kelvin Fichter, a developer felt that the Ronin was heavily dependent on validator-based bridges which he termed a “Fundamental error”. Fichter also pointed out that the network’s “minimal monitoring and alerting” system provided the hacker’s a solid ground to launch their attack.

Axie Infinity is gearing up for major updates; more details

by

NFT-based gaming giant, Axie Infinity has released its January journal on 16th January 2022, which teased some major updates. For one, the team is currently focused on building out the Project K trading feature that will facilitate players to trade various resources with one another. As per the blog post, the trading system will likely take more than a month to build. Concepts and 3D modeling for various assets such as buildings and items are also in progress.

Secondly, Origin [Battles V3] development has been pushing full steam ahead, with a target alpha test launch in the upcoming months. Most importantly, Origin will introduce new economic balancing features such as vertical progression of Axies which will provide much-needed sinks for the economy. 

Lastly, the online video game giant is also launching a balancing patch for Season 20 in the coming days. It revealed that the team is planning to release this patch prior to the release of the season to ensure sufficient time for play-testing.

Axie Infinity’s gaming sidechain is bigger than many major layer 1s

According to a new research report led by blockchain analytics firm Nansen, Ronin, a layer 2 product from Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis devoted solely to the game, processed 560% more total transactions than the Ethereum blockchain. And while that figure has since fallen back, the sidechain is still processing more than popular layer one networks such as Avalanche [AVAX] and Fantom [FTM].

Axie Infinity which is undoubtedly the crown jewel of crypto’s still-nascent “play-to-earn” field has raked in 2.8 million daily active users, which is why its sidechain Ronin is processing 40% more transactions than Avalanche, one of the most popular layer 1s by transaction volume.

In addition to that, Ronin users are engaging with advanced decentralized finance or DeFi functionality by depositing into trading platform’s liquidity pools and Axie’s staking module, despite having lower account balances- a trend that has a lesser possibility to follow on most layer 1s due to fees.

Here’s the reason behind Axie Infinity’s [AXS] impressive streak above $155

by

Popular NFT-based online video game Axie Infinity has continued to post an impressive rally after a period of dull market momentum. After an astonishing rally of over 125%, its native AXS token climbed to an all-time high of $155. According to data provided by IntoTheBlock on Monday,

Axie Infinity’s impressive ascent can be attributed to the roll-out of a huge airdrop to early supporters and the launch of staking for the AXS token. It recovered greatly from a low of just $47 in the last week of September.

ITB’s tweet regarding the same read,

“The price of Axie Infinity token AXS catapulted to a new ATH of $155 propelled by a huge airdrop to early supporters and the launch of staking for AXS token. AXS also saw a massive increase in perpetual swaps volume today with +9 billion, the second-largest ever.”

FA2rhLbXoA0zLyA
Here's the reason behind Axie Infinity's [AXS] impressive streak above $155 6

Axie Infinity exponential growth

Created by Sky Mavis and released in 2018, the Axie ecosystem has bolstered the trend of play-to-earn. The recent stats released by DappRadar gave an overview of its adoption. As a matter of fact, the project noted over $2 billion in NFT sales volume, strengthening Axie’s position as the most valuable NFT collection. As a result, the project went on to eclipse already established biggies such as CryptoPunks, Art Blocks, and NBA Top Shot.

pasted image 0
Here's the reason behind Axie Infinity's [AXS] impressive streak above $155 7

The crypto-based game and blockchain-using metaverse project Axie Infinity has risen sporadically in a very short span of time. Especially in Southeast Asian regions such as the Philippines and Vietnam, the protocol is fueling a digital economy powered by cryptocurrency assets. Many are also deriving the main source of income from the Axie ecosystem precisely in areas where traditional financial and banking services are not easily accessible and are often expensive.

In addition to that, the ownership of the AXS token is also on an upward trajectory. ITB had recently revealed that there are more than 17,480 address holders with AXS. This figure essentially demonstrated a new peak and a whopping appreciation of more than 400% in terms of year-to-date [YTD]. It can be inferred that the latest growth signals the growing popularity of Axie Infinity and play-to-earn non-fungible token [NFT] gaming.

FAYBcY2WYAQNNt4
Here's the reason behind Axie Infinity's [AXS] impressive streak above $155 8

This can pave way for Axie Infinity’s [AXS] rally

by

Having shed significant gains this month, Axie Infinity [AXS] market participants remained cautioned. After a sporadic surge, the prominent non-fungible token [NFT] gaming platform has resorted to the “slow and steady wins the race” approach as it recovered from a major slump earlier last week. Despite the ongoing dullness in the market, the latest data point towards an increased adoption rate.

According to the crypto-intelligence platform, IntoTheBlock, Axie Infinity continues to witnessed heightened adoption from users. The charts point towards massive growth in terms of the number of wallet addresses which hit a fresh peak of 17,480. Since the beginning of 2021, the figure for addresses has increased by 420%.

ITBs’ tweet regarding the same read,

“The number of $AXS holders continues to grow, hitting a new all-time high yesterday. There are now 17,480 addresses with a balance in AXS, representing a 420% increase YTD.”

AXS
This can pave way for Axie Infinity's [AXS] rally 12

The latest development comes just a week after DappRadar revealed the play-to-earn game Axie Infinity had pierced through yet another impressive milestone and generated upwards of $2 billion in all-time sales. According to the data, more than 615k market participants had purchased or sold NFTs, in approximately 5 million transactions, meaning, an average transaction for an Axie Infinity NFT costs around $420.

Axie Infinity had emerged as the biggest contributor to the NFT economy. The reports also revealed that its collection amassed over $765 million in sales, drawing well over 80% of the total volume of game non-fungible sales in August. The growth in activity has been consistent this month as well and has mostly remained unfazed by the rising prices for in-game NFTs.

pasted image 0
This can pave way for Axie Infinity's [AXS] rally 13

Axie Infinity [AXS] Stellar Growth Trajectory

Axie Infinity Shards [AXS], the native token of the NFT platform had noted a substantial raise after bounced higher on the 23rd of September after being listed by two major cryptocurrency exchanges- Bitfinex and Bitstamp. The development catapulted the asset from a damaging turn of events as the broader market continued to dive deeper.

The technicals do not appear to be highly optimistic but it does indicate improvement in AXS’ trajectory. The green closing candles of Awesome Oscillator [AO] depicted weak but bullish momentum in the market. The daily Relative Strength Index [RSI] surged above the 50-median line indicating buyers have control over the price action.

AXS 1
This can pave way for Axie Infinity's [AXS] rally 14

AXS’ price might seem to be trading sideways but the major factor that can influence it in favor of the bulls is the growing adoption and activity in the ecosystem.

Philippines’ BIR says NFT-based Axie Infinity players to pay tax on their earnings

by

Philippines’ regulatory entity wants the players of the popular NFT-based online video game, Axie Infinity players to pay taxes on income generated from the game. In recent weeks, the platform has garnered significant traction but the’ finance undersecretary of the Philippines, Antonette C. Tionko said that the earnings from these gaming platforms are subject to income tax and players are required to report them for taxation.

According to the report by the Manila Bulletin, the country’s government has not yet determined whether Axie’s in-game NFTs be deemed as securities or currency. Despite admitting to the lack of clarity in terms of categorization by the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] as well as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas [BSP], the official went on to state,

“But regardless of how it is characterized, it’s taxable, subject to income tax.”

The sporadic rise of NFT-based Axie Infinity in Philippines

According to the tracking platform, Player Counter, the Philippines happens to be the largest market for Axie Infinity, with more than 40% of its players located the country followed by Venezuela, United States, Thailand, and Brazil. Developed by Vietnam-based studio Sky Mavis, Axie Infinity saw enormous success riding the wave of NFT mania. Last week, the platform touched an all-time high in sales of $1 billion and established a new record, emerging as the highest valued NFT project in the world.

Besides, there are two tokens that can be earned through playing Axie Infinity- Smooth Love Potion [SLP] and Axie Infinity Shard [AXS]. While SLP works as in-game currency, AXS, on the other hand, is the governance token of the Axie community.

Tionko, who heads the DOF’s Revenue Operations Group argued that even though the platform is not based in Philipinnes, it is still generating income from players based within the country and with the rise in the broader cryptocurrency market, players’ earnings becomes comparable with local wages. She said,

“It is not registered in the Philippines. That is one of the things that we hopefully capture once we have that system of registration for non-residents. It’s not in the Philippines, but certainly, whoever earns currency from it, you should report it. Remember the principle of taxation, it’s a flow of wealth”