Indian crypto exchange WazirX hit by 230 million dollar hack
Indian crypto exchange WazirX hit by 230 million dollar hack
Indian crypto exchange WazirX has confirmed a security breach in one of its multi-sig wallets, resulting in the theft of user funds and over $230 million in withdrawals.
According to coverage by Cointelegraph, the hack, which was first reported on July 18, compromised various digital assets, including $100 million in Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens.
The attacker quickly converted a portion of the stolen assets into Ethereum (ETH) using Tornado Cash, a tool used to obfuscate blockchain transactions, making tracing efforts more difficult.
The breach was first detected by Cyvers Alert, a blockchain security firm, which noticed suspicious activity involving the transfer of approximately $235 million from WazirX's wallet to an unknown address.
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The hacker then converted the assets to Ethereum, swapping tokens such as PEPE, GALA and USDT. This event caused the prices of the affected tokens to plummet. Despite efforts to alert WazirX, the company initially did not respond to Cyvers Alert's warnings.
Shortly thereafter, Lookonchain published a breakdown of the lost assets and their amounts. This includes, among other:
- 5.43t SHIB ($102m)
- 15,298 ETH ($52.5m)
- 20.5m MATIC ($11.24m)
- 640.27m PEPE ($7.6m)
- 5.79m USDT
- 135m GALA ($3.5m).
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The incident has raised serious concerns about WazirX's security practices, as it has suspended both Indian Rupee (INR) and crypto withdrawals to protect user funds during the ongoing investigation. On-chain investigator ZachXBT reported in a post on Telegram that the hacker still holds significant amounts of Shiba Inu ($100 million) and Floki Inu ($4.7 million) at the time of the report.
"We are aware that one of our multi-sig wallets has been compromised. Our team is actively investigating the incident. To ensure the safety of your assets, INR and crypto withdrawals will be temporarily suspended," the exchange said.
This hack underscores the ongoing security challenges facing cryptocurrency exchanges, especially those operating in evolving regulatory environments.
The incident at WazirX serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities within the digital asset ecosystem, and the critical need for robust security protocols to protect investors and maintain trust in cryptocurrency platforms.
See also: Bitget lists UXLink, expanding Web3 and SocialFi offerings
