Binance Withdraws from Sky Mavis Fundraising Project
Binance will only invest a lesser sum than initially planned as Sky Mavis stabilize Ronin Network and pays victims.
Sky Mavis Suffered Security Breach
Binance has now withdrawn from spearheading the fundraising project for Sky Mavis, the creator of Axie Infinity. This project was launched in April because Sky Mavis suffered a breach at its Axie DAO validator nodes and Ronin validator nodes, seeing a loss of 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5 million USDC from the Ronin bridge.
On July 6, it was discovered that a North Korean hacker group lured Sky Mavis employees through a fake job offer link. Unfortunately, it was through this means that the node got exploited. As a result, the employee no longer works there. The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange decided to lead a funding round of $150 million to revive the bridge and reimburse victims of this tragedy. Other participants include major Web3 venture capital firms such as Paradigm, Accel, Animoca Brands, and a16z.
However, seeing that Sky Mavis doesn't need much support from the exchange platform, Binance decided to withdraw although the ongoing funding round. An individual familiar with the matter said that Binance will still invest in the Sky Mavis, although it will be lesser than the initial amount.
Sky Mavis Has Reimbursed All Its Victims
A spokesperson commented:
"Since April, Sky Mavis has been able to both stabilize and recover funds. As a result, Sky Mavis is now in a position to cover users' funds without significant investment from Binance. To this end, Binance will no longer be the lead investor in Sky Mavis. Binance though will continue to support Sky Mavis."
On its part, Sky Mavis said it started reimbursing victims on June 28, relaunching the Ronin Network on the same day. A spokesperson for the company said all the victims were duly settled when the Network opened. He added,
"Sky Mavis is in a solid financial position with 150 employees and is still hiring. All investors who committed to the round are still participating."