Sky Mavis, the company behind blockchain game Axie Infinity, hopes to return at least some of the cryptocurrency stolen by the attacker for around $600 million, but the project team acknowledges that the process will take time, Bloomberg reported.

“We assume some funds will be restored within two years. Two years is a good time for Axie to learn more. We’re here for the long haul,” said Alexander Leonard Larsen, COO of Sky Mavis.

According to him, the company is working with various law enforcement agencies to track and return tokens, primarily Ethereum. He did not disclose the details of the investigation.

Rishav Rai, principal investigator at crypto security firm Merkle Science, stated that it is “very rare” to recover all stolen funds from major attacks. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult for hackers to launder assets after such events.

The attacker sent some of the Ethereum to the Tornado Cash mixing service after hacking the Ronin sidechain. However, such instruments are not designed for large volumes, and moving assets through various wallets and exchanges is expensive and time-consuming, Rai added.

Larsen confirmed that the attack was carried out through a social engineering attack on one of the employees. The hacker gained access to five of the nine nodes that allowed unauthorized withdrawals.

Previously, Sky Mavis had promised users to compensate for losses. In early April, the company raised $150 million from a group of investors led by Binance for this purpose.

To fully recoup the stolen cryptocurrency, the firm will use $450 million of its own funds. Larsen stressed that the company’s financial position remains strong.

As of March 28, the number of users of the game decreased by 45% from its peak value in November 2021. The head of Sky Mavis attributed this to the sharp drop in rewards, which led to emigration of those who saw participation as a way to make money. At the same time, he acknowledged the possible impact of the attack on players’ departure.

“Undoubtedly, this incident will haunt us for a long time. We feel that we have not met user expectations and trust needs to be restored. But I think of it as a lesson learned that security should be a priority,” Larsen said.

Recall that in the first quarter of 2022, as a result of the actions of hackers and scammers, crypto projects lost more than $ 1.22 billion.