India's biggest crypto exchange WazirX loses nearly half its reserves: How, what and other details about the 'hacking' attack - Times of India (2024)

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India's biggest crypto exchange WazirX loses nearly half its reserves: How, what and other details about the 'hacking' attack - Times of India? ›

WazirX, India's leading crypto exchange, has suspended withdrawals after a significant hacking incident resulting in a reported loss of $230 million. Various cryptocurrencies were stolen, and investigations point towards North Korea-linked hackers. The exchange's competitors reassure their customers of fund security.

About 4.2 million of WazirX's 16 million users were struck by a massive hack of the cryptocurrency exchange on 18 July that wiped off 40-50% of their crypto balances. Most of those affected users were Indians.

On July 10th, 2024, eight days before the attack the WazirX thief was funded via Tornado Cash. At the time of the attack on July 18th, the hacker drained the compromised WazirX wallet of $230m. After the attack, the hacker distributed the funds via a couple of wallets and started swapping tokens for ETH.

One of India's largest crypto exchanges WazirX has said that 43% of customer funds lost in a recent cyberattack are unlikely to be recovered. In a virtual press conference, the exchange announced it is undergoing a restructuring process, which could take up to 6 months.

That's what happened at WazirX. At the time of the hack, WazirX had over 16 million users and held $570 million in customer balances. About 4.2 million users, or 25% of the total, were affected and saw their crypto balances drop by nearly half. WazirX had to freeze all trades and halt withdrawals temporarily.

WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty was strongly criticised for his slow updates regarding the cyberattack and for not resuming crypto withdrawals. While several crypto outlets have reported that North Korea-linked hackers were behind the cyberattack, this has not yet been formally confirmed by WazirX.

WazirX, India's leading crypto exchange, has suspended withdrawals after a significant hacking incident resulting in a reported loss of $230 million. Various cryptocurrencies were stolen, and investigations point towards North Korea-linked hackers.

On July 18, WazirX lost crypto assets worth over $230-million in a cyberattack, leaving nearly Rs 30 lakhs of Charan and his wife's savings stuck. His family is still not aware.

If 100% of my tokens are in the 'not stolen' category, will I get all of them back? Users with 100% of their tokens in the 'not stolen' category will receive 55% of those tokens back.

There was a cyber attack on one of our multisig wallets”. The crypto exchange has confirmed that the breach led to loss of user funds and $230 million in withdrawals. These stolen assets represent more than 45 per cent of the total reserves reported by the exchange in June 2024.

Who is the owner of WazirX? ›

Instead, WazirX is currently owned by Zanmai Labs Pvt Ltd, an India-based firm registered with local regulators. Zanmai is a subsidiary of Zettai, a Singapore-based company owned by Shetty.

According to third party blockchain analytics tool, Lookonchain, the stolen assets from WazirX included $102 million of Shiba Inu, $52.5 million in Ethereum, $11.24 million in Matic, $7.6 million in Pepe coin, $135 million in Tether, and $3.5 million in Gala.

The WazirX cyberattack is not just the biggest security breach of a cryptocurrency exchange in India, but is among the top hacks in the world, too.

Potential issues when withdrawing from WazirX may include entering an incorrect wallet address, which could result in lost and unrecoverable funds or unexpected transaction fees. Always double-check all details before confirming a withdrawal and review the fees to avoid any surprises.

The WazirX cyberattack occurred on July 18, resulting in the theft of over $230 million (about Rs 2,000 crore) in digital assets. The breach involved a multi-sig wallet with six signatories, five from WazirX and one from Liminal Custody. The security breach led to WazirX losing nearly 45 per cent of its holding assets.

Biggest Indian crypto exchange WazirX hacked, $230 million funds stolen funds. On July 18, India's leading cryptocurrency exchange WazirX faced a $230 million breach, including Shiba Inu tokens. The breach, potentially North-Korea linked, affected a multisig wallet and led to paused withdrawals and a WRX token drop.

"Bitcoin has plummeted to around $53,000, marking a significant decline, while Ether has also turned negative for 2024, reflecting broader concerns in the crypto sector. This downturn is driven by regulatory pressures, adverse macroeconomic factors like weak US job data, and the Japanese stock market crash.