US recovers $30 million stolen from Axie Infinity by Lazarus hackers

With the help of blockchain analysts and FBI agents, the U.S. government seized $30 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen by the North Korean threat group 'Lazarus' from the token-based 'play-to-earn' game Axie Infinity earlier in the year.

The news about the retrieval was announced during the AxieCon event today, where the hosts highlighted it as a community achievement and the result of a large-scale collaboration between multiple law enforcement authorities and private entities.

This is the first time stolen cryptocurrency has been seized from a North Korean hacking group, and according to a Chainalysis report, which had active involvement in the retrieval, it won't be the last.

"Chainalysis Crypto Incident Response team played a role in these seizures, utilizing advanced tracing techniques to follow stolen funds to cash out points and liaising with law enforcement and industry players to quickly freeze funds," the company reports.

The seized money will gradually move into Axie Infinity's treasury and back to the players' community, but the game's publishers explained this process might take several years.