Axie Infinity's Ronin Bridge Restarts Following $625 Million Exploit, Providing Compensation To Victims Of The Hack

Axie Infinity AXS/USD has announced its Ronin Bridge will be restarting three months after an exploit of $625 million.

What Happened: On Tuesday, June 28, Axie Infinity’s Ronin Bridge was restarted following external audits and internal audits. These audits were carried out by blockchain security companies Certik and Verichains.

The tweet making the announcement stated all user funds will be backed with a 1:1 ratio by the newer bridge. As revealed by CoinDesk, the upgraded bridge promises a circuit-breaker system to improve the bridge’s security by pausing large-scale withdrawals that may indicate exploits.

The attack occurred earlier this year in March when the network’s private keys were hacked and used to make fake withdrawals. Losses include 173,600 Ethereum ETH/USD and 25.5 million USDC USDC/USD. Sky Mavis, Axie Infinity’s head designer, stated the company would compensate the victims of this exploit. This mission for compensation began with $150 million being raised in April, in a fundraising round led by Binance BNB/USD.

Why It’s Important: The exploit undertaken on Axie’s Ronin Bridge follows an array of other multi-million dollar exploits that have occurred previously this year. The company's mission to repay victims of this exploit protects retail investors who had major parts of their portfolio invested in Axie Infinity’s Ronin Bridge.

Immediately following the exploit, Ronin protected the Axie Infinity ecosystem by lessening its token’s emissions. However, following the exploit and amidst bearish market conditions, Axie Infinity is currently trading at $15.45, down more than 93% from its prior all-time highs.

Bridges, such as the Ronin Bridge, play a crucial role across blockchains. The Ronin Bridge facilitates assets moving between the Ronin and Ethereum blockchains. Therefore, as exploited funds are being compensated to investors and the Ronin Bridge is restarting, Axie Infinity must continue to proceed cautiously to protect investors and their funds.