A recent report by Bloomberg revealed that Trung Ngyuen, the CEO of Axie Infinity, moved $3M in their native token, $AXS – right before freezing transactions.
As the leading play to earn (P2E) game, Axie Infinity was one of the most successful crypto projects ever. As it’s player base grew, Sky Mavis, the company behind Axie, decided to creates its own sidechain away from Ethereum.
Named “Ronin”, it required users to bridge their funds from the Ethereum Mainnet over. However, it was compromised earlier this year, with $600M in funds stolen from the bridge.
Also Read: Hackers Stole Over 173,600ETH, $25.5M USDC From The Blockchain Behind Axie Infinity
Sky Mavis Confirms Transactions
Following the hack, the company announced that assets on the bridge would be frozen.
However, Bloomberg reported that Ngyuen moved $3 Million in $AXS to the cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. Sky Mavis has since confirmed that the wallet belonged to him.
This led some users to believe that Sky Mavis was in the hack, given that Axie was undergoing a difficult period during the time.
CEO Denies Exit Scam
While the transaction appear incriminating, Ngyuen has since posted a statement on what actually occured.
Essentially,
- Ngyuen’s wallet was used to thwart short sellers
- Founding Team used their own funds to secure the bridge
- Funds were transferred to Binance for liquidity and financing options
He also states that “My life’s work is Axie Infinity and the community we’ve created”, reassuring players that he was not leaving.
Soon after, Sky Mavis raised $150M to reimburse users and allow users to bridge funds securely.
At the time of writing, all player funds have been backed 1:1.
Also Read: Crypto Exchange Zipmex Files For Bankruptcy Protection In S’pore
[Editor’s Note: This article does not represent financial advice. Please do your research before investing.]
Featured Image Credit: Atato
