Axie Infinity has revealed that it is launching a bug bounty program that could allow hackers to earn as much as $1 million if they can identify any form of weakness on the project.
The decision to launch the program followed the attack on the platform’s Ronin bridge, an Ethereum-linked sidechain made specifically for the popular gaming metaverse platform Axie Infinity, recently. The attack led to the loss of digital assets worth over $600 million.
Per available information, the reward would be paid in its native token, AXS, which is reserved for “extraordinarily severe issues or those with extreme impact.”
The organization noted that hackers that discover smaller bugs also stand to earn rewards.
This reward ranges between $1,000 and $100,000, with the amount a hacker stands to earn depending on the severity of the bug discovered.
The Ronin Network bridge is currently being redesigned and will open once we are confident that it can stand the test of time. We initially expected to be able to deploy the upgrade by the end of April, but this is not a process that we can afford to rush. The bridge will secure billions of dollars in assets, and it needs to be done right.
Bug bounty programs are quite common within the crypto space as it is used by projects to incentivize hackers to test the security and strength of their project.
Update on the Ronin Hack
Earlier this month, US authorities revealed that they believe that the Ronin hack was carried out by North Korea-linked hackers, the Lazarus Group. The hackers have gained wide notoriety for their methods and their ability to carry out huge attacks that have led to millions of losses.
In another update, Binance revealed that it has recovered around $6 million of the stolen funds that were spread across 86 accounts on its platform. Indications have also emerged that the hackers have begun moving part of the stolen Ronin funds.
Sky Mavis, the parent company of Axie Infinity, has hinted that it could take as long as two years to recover all of the stolen funds. Apart from that, the firm raised $150 million from investors in its bid to repay users who might have been affected by the theft.