Hong Kong based gaming company, Animoca Brands, announced that it has participated in a funding round to support, Sky Mavis, the creator of leading NFT breakout title Axie Infinity, to restore funds on the Ronin Bridge.
Last month, Sky Mavis witnessed a major blow when, Ronin Network, the blockchain project that powers the popular online game – Axie Infinity, was hacked. Cyber criminals stole over $615 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) and USDC in one of the largest crypto hacks of all time. The attackers hacked the private keys to “forge fake withdrawals” through a backdoor route, draining over 173,500 ether (ETH) and 25 million of the stablecoin, USD coin (USDC).
Animoca Brand’s Conviction In Sky Mavis
On April 6, gaming giant, Animoca Brands in participation with the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, led a $150 million funding round in support of Sky Mavis. The funding round also witnessed the participation of notable investors including – a16z, Dialectic, Paradigm and Accel.
According to the official blog post, Animoca Brands wrote that they believe in what Sky Mavis is trying to build. During the harsh crypto winter of 2018–2019, when a Bitcoin was worth three thousand and something dollars and one Ether fetched only a few hundred dollars, Axie Infinity not only survived, but emerged as a market-setting product. They went on to further write,
“We have been a supporter of Axie Infinity and its community since its early days. Sky Mavis is one of the strongest and most dedicated builders in the crypto space, and is as passionate about NFTs, blockchain gaming, and digital property rights as we are here at Animoca Brands.”
How Will The Fundraise Support Sky Mavis?
Sky Mavis, in another blog post, wrote that the fresh fundraise along with Sky Mavis balance sheet funds, will be used to ensure that all users affected by the Ronin Validator Hack will be reimbursed. The Ronin Network bridge will open once it has undergone a security upgrade and several audits, which can take several weeks. Sky Mavis is in the process of implementing rigorous internal security measures to prevent future attacks.
In 2019, Animoca Brands had entered into a subscription agreement with Sky Mavis PTE. LTD to acquire $420,000 worth of ordinary shares in Sky Mavis for cash and shares in the Company. Additionally, Animoca Brands also signed a collaboration memorandum of understanding with Sky Mavis to explore opportunities to market and promote each other’s products to their respective platforms and networks, as well as to engage in discussions to publish Sky Mavis’s products in various markets.
