The largest cryptocurrency exchange in India, WazirX, has been hacked for $235 million, leading to withdrawal suspensions and significant market value reductions for all involved cryptocurrencies.
Security Breach and Initial Report
India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX, suffered a major security breach on Thursday. Web3 Cyvers security firm initially reported the attack, notifying WazirX that its Safe wallet had been compromised by a malicious actor.
Cyvers announced on X.com
“Hello WazirX, our system has detected multiple suspicious transactions involving your Safe Multisig wallet on the ETH network. A total of $234.9 million from your funds has been moved to a new address. Each transaction appears to be facilitated by Tornado Cash.”
The tweet also mentioned that Cyvers had attempted to contact WazirX directly but received no response.
Details of the Attack
According to the report, funds totaling $234.9 million from WazirX’s Safe Multisig wallet were transferred to a new address. These transactions were facilitated using Tornado Cash, a decentralized protocol designed for private transactions. The stolen assets, including Tether (USDT), Pepe (PEPE), and Gala (GALA), were converted into Ether (ETH).
Further Research Findings
Cryptocurrency researcher ZachXBT further investigated the incident, revealing on Telegram that the main attacker’s address still holds over $104 million. The compromised wallet contained approximately $100 million in Shiba Inu (SHIB), $52 million in ETH, and $11 million in Polygon (MATIC). Additionally, it 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 smaller amounts of various other tokens.
WazirX’s Response
WazirX confirmed the breach on X.com, announcing that an active investigation was underway. The exchange stated
“To ensure the security of your assets, INR and cryptocurrency withdrawals will be temporarily suspended. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We will keep you updated with further information.”
However, the team did not comment on the security of user funds or the measures being taken to recover the stolen assets.
Market Impact
The hack severely impacted WazirX’s reserves and the market value of the affected cryptocurrencies. WazirX’s native token, WRX, dropped by 15%, now trading just above 14 cents. Due to the hacker liquidating coins, SHIB has lost over 6% in market value in terms of US dollars and is trading 16% lower in terms of rupees. The bitcoin-rupee (BTC/INR) pair dropped by 11% to $60,945, reflecting panic selling and rush to fiat/cash after the attack.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended nor should be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
No Comment! Be the first one.