Norway Claws Back $5.7M From Biggest Crypto Hack Ever: Here's What Happened

In a significant development, Norwegian law enforcement has managed to recover $5.7 million in cryptocurrency assets that were stolen in the sensational 2022 Ronin Network hack, which remains, to this day, the biggest cryptocurrency hack of all time.

What Happened: Sky Mavis, the creator of the platform, announced that the Økokrim (Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime) has seized and returned $5.7 million worth of the stolen assets, as reported by The Daily Hodl. With this, law enforcement has frozen a total of $40 million worth of the stolen cryptocurrencies since the exploit.

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“Recovery of these assets requires close coordination and dedicated effort amongst law enforcement agencies, lawyers, accountants, and blockchain forensic teams such as Chainalysis. ~ 15% of recovered assets will be used to cover costs and expenses incurred by those involved in the recovery efforts. The remaining 85% of recovered funds will be deposited into the Axie Infinity treasury,” the company explained.

Why It Matters: The Ronin network, an Ethereum ETH/USD sidechain developed by Sky Mavis and primarily used for gaming, fell victim to a major cyberattack in March 2022.

The suspected perpetrators, the North Korean cybercriminal group Lazarus Group, exploited the private keys of the Ronin bridge, absconding with 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USD Coin USDC/USD, worth over $600 million at the time.

According to a recent report, Ethereum, the blockchain on which Ronin operates, was the most targeted by hackers in May 2024, accounting for nearly 43% of total losses. In fact, Ethereum and BNB Chain BNB/USD were the most attacked chains, accounting for a staggering 62% of total losses across major chains.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.