In late March, Ronin, an Ethereum sidechain built for Axie Infinity, fell victim to a historic hack. Ronin Bridge lost 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC with a total value exceeding $600 million. Funds and vulnerabilities were then patched with a successful recovery process. But the endings in the altcoin project continue.
Are funds safe at Ronin Bridge?
On Saturday, Axie Infinity announced that it has detected some bugs on the Ronin Bridge. The Axie Infinity team says they encountered an unknown issue that caused some funds to get stuck during transfers on the Ethereum Blockchain. The Axie Infinity team claims the funds were not lost, but are currently stuck due to a recurring issue after the bridge reopened. Part of the announcement includes:
We identified an issue with the bridge that was causing some funds from the Ethereum Blockchain to be squeezed. As a result, the funds are not delivered to your Ronin wallet but are not lost. We have identified the problem and are working on it. The solution requires us to do an update to the bridge. We started the process with the support of validators. We expect the update to be released towards the end of next week.
However, Ronin Network warned in a recent blog post that funds sent directly to Ronin Bridge’s contract addresses will be permanently lost. Meanwhile, Ronin (RON) price is trading slightly volatile around 1%.
Ronin Bridge, altcoin project encounters problems after release
Axie Infinity shared with the community the issues that occurred at Ronin Bridge on July 2. He tweeted about recurring issues causing some funds to get stuck during transfers from Ethereum. Now the team says it has identified problems. The Axie Infinity team is currently working with validators to resolve the issue. An update is on the way for the bridge, which will likely be available by July 10. Funds are expected to remain suspended until the update is released.
Axie Infinity claims the issue has only occurred twice since Ronin Bridge reopened. However, it is difficult to predict whether such problems will arise in the future. Also, the platform says that after the update, the stuck funds will be sent to the designated Ronin wallet.
After Axie Infinity launched Land staking on July 1, players had the opportunity to earn AXS through staking. In fact, 13,005 out of 16,794 plots have already been linked to stake pools.
Ronin warns against permanent fund loss
Ronin Network previously warned that the new Ronin Bridge should only be used for deposits and withdrawals via the Ronin Bridge UI. Users trying to send money directly to Ronin Bridge’s contract addresses will be permanently lost. As quoted by Kriptokoin.com, in a blog post dated June 28, Ronin Bridge wrote:
- All user funds are fully supported by the new bridge at a 1:1 ratio.
- We have successfully performed an internal audit and two external audits (Verichains, Certik).
- We’re on track to release Land Staking this week.
- New bridge design, stopping large suspicious withdrawals. It includes a circuit breaker system as an emergency plan that improves the safety of the bridge.