WazirX hacked; halts withdrawals as over $230 million stolen

WazirX shared the preliminary findings after reporting that one of its wallets was breached, but did not name the suspects or perpetrators

WazirX shared the preliminary findings after reporting that one of its wallets was breached. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX claimed that it was “taking all necessary steps to protect the customer assets,” after a cyber-attack against one of its wallets resulted in the loss of more than $230 million.

The wallet in question was operated by five signatories from WazirX and one from the digital asset custody service Liminal. According to the statement provided by WazirX, a difference between the data displayed on Liminal’s interface and the transaction’s actual contents was possibly exploited by the attacker.

“Despite us taking all necessary steps to protect the customer assets, the cyber attackers appear to have possibly breached such security features, and the theft occurred,” said the crypto exchange.

WazirX did not go into details about the suspected hackers or any groups/perpetrators that could be behind the incident. The Indian exchange did not explicitly mention which cyber-crime or police departments it was working with in order to trace the attackers.

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“This is a force majeure event beyond our control, but we are leaving no stone unturned to locate and recover the funds. We have already blocked a few deposits and reached out to concerned wallets for recovery. We are in touch with the best resources to help us in this endeavor,” said WazirX in a statement.

At WazirX, our commitment to transparency and community welfare is paramount. There was a cyber attack on one of our multisig wallets. Below are the preliminary findings to clarify the situation:

» Incident Overview: A cyber attack occurred in one of our multisig wallets…

— WazirX: India Ka Bitcoin Exchange (@WazirXIndia) July 18, 2024

The cyber hack did not unduly impact the crypto market at large.

The price of the Shiba Inu [SHIB] meme token—popular with many Indian crypto investors—​dropped briefly around the time of the attack on July 18, but was up by 8.07% in the past seven days.

Top coins Bitcoin [BTC] and Ether [ETH] both saw price increases of more than 10% in the past week.

The address of the affected WazirX wallet was listed as 0x27fD43BABfbe83a81d14665b1a6fB8030A60C9b4.

While cryptocurrency transactions and gains are taxed in India, blockchain-based assets are not entirely recognised by the government. As a result, users who are impacted by hacks or cyber attacks often lack strong support systems.