Indian Crypto Exchange Loses $235M in Devastating Hack
Indian Crypto Exchange Suffers $235M Hack – Web3 security firm Cyvers has detected multiple suspicious transactions involving WazirX’s Safe Multisig wallet on Ethereum. According to an X post, it is believed that $234.9 million of funds in the Safe Multisig wallet of the Indian crypto exchange have been moved to a new address. Each transaction’s caller was funded by Tornado Cash, the decentralized protocol for private transactions.
Funds Swapped into Ether
The new address has already swapped the shifted funds, comprised of Tether (USDT), Pepe (PEPE), and Gala (GALA), into Ether (ETH). According to a Telegram post in the “Investigations by ZachXBT” channel, crypto sleuth ZachXBT announced that the suspected primary attacker address still has over $104 million to dump.
Composition of the Hacked Wallet
The wallet was mainly composed of around $100 million in Shiba Inu (SHIB), $52 million in ETH, and $11 million in Polygon (MATIC). It also held $4.7 million in FLOKI, $3.2 million in Fantom (FTM), $2.8 million in Chainlink (LINK), $2.3 million in Fetch.ai (FET), and the remaining funds split between a wide range of other tokens.
WazirX Suspends Withdrawals
In response to the security breach, the Indian exchange has temporarily paused the withdrawal of cryptocurrencies and Indian rupees on the platform. In an X post by the official exchange, the WazirX team explained that they are “actively investigating the incident” and will post updates as the situation unfolds. Cointelegraph contacted WazirX to comment on the safety of user funds and measures to recover the stolen crypto assets. However, the team stated that a response was “not possible at this time.”
Regulatory Challenges in India
India remains a tricky domain for crypto. On March 21, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Indian Ministry of Finance issued compliance notices to multiple foreign crypto exchanges, including OKX. The notice sent to Indian OKX users requested they close their accounts and redeem funds before April 30, as the exchange stated it was “no longer providing services to users in India.”
Although discussions have been ongoing for almost four years, the Indian government has yet to establish a clear regulatory framework for the crypto market in India.
FAQ on WazirX Security Breach and Regulatory Challenges in India
What exactly happened with WazirX’s Safe Multisig wallet?
Web3 security firm Cyvers detected multiple suspicious transactions involving WazirX’s Safe Multisig wallet on Ethereum. It is believed that $234.9 million worth of funds were moved to a new address, with transactions funded by Tornado Cash.
Which cryptocurrencies were affected in the WazirX hack?
The affected funds included Tether (USDT), Pepe (PEPE), Gala (GALA), Ether (ETH), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Polygon (MATIC), FLOKI, Fantom (FTM), Chainlink (LINK), and Fetch.ai (FET), among others.
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