Mumbai-found crypto exchange WazirX has terminated withdrawals from the platform after suffering a considerable major hacking attack. India’s most popular exchange verified the same in a statement on X, previously known as Twitter. WazirX observed withdrawals in early European hours on Thursday (July 18). Wazir X, which widely designates itself as the ‘India Ka Bitcoin Exchange’, mainly targets the Indian market.
It is one of the few exchanges registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in the country, enabling it to provide crypto exchange services to citizens of India.
The company called the security violation a “force majeure event” that has allegedly resulted in the loss of $230 million. “This is a force majeure event that was beyond our control, but we are going to move heaven and earth and recover the funds. We have already blocked a few deposits and are in touch with concerned wallets for recovery. We are in connection with the best possible resources to help us in this attempt,” WazirX said in a statement posted on its X account.
The cyber attack took place because of a discrepancy between the data shown on Liminal’s interface and the transaction’s real contents, WazirX stated in a statement on Thursday. “At the time of the cyber attack, the information was dissimilar on Liminal’s interface and what was actually signed. We are doubtful the payload was replaced to transfer control of the wallet to a scammer.”
What makes $230 million in looted funds significant
Following the reports, the platform has lost around $230 million. What makes the missing assets considerable for WazirX is that the company announced possessions of around $500 million in its June proof-of-reserves announcement. This signifies that WazirX has lost nearly half its reserves. Under Cyvers’ evaluation, the amount lost from the multiple-signature wallet on WazirX would be one of the significant loots in recent years.
What has been looted from WazirX
A third-party blockchain surveyor, Lookchain, reported that 200+ cryptocurrencies, including 5.43 billion SHIB tokens, around 15,200 Ethereum tokens, 20.5 million Matic tokens, 640 billion Pepe tokens, 5.79 million USDT, and 135 million Gala tokens were “looted” from the platform.
What about WazirX’s biggest competitors
There are two other popular crypto exchanges in India – CoinSwitch & CoinDCX. The two companies guaranteed their consumers that their funds were secure and untouched by this incident. “Our wallet security remains unbreakable,” Sumit Gupta, co-founder and CEO of CoinDCX, posted on X (Twitter. )
“We suggest all our crypto investors be aware of possible market volatility during this time and practice caution in their trading and investment activities,” tweeted Ashish Singhal, co-founder and chief executive of PeepalCo, the group holding firm of CoinSwitch.
What does the investigation reportedly say?
Following the media reports quoting Blockchain sleuth Elliptic, the North Korea-linked scammers seem to be blamed for the attack. The breach of a private key providing a way into the wallet reportedly led to the lack. The leaked private keys reportedly are used to upgrade a safe multi-sig wallet, which possesses noteworthy assets, to a harmful contract.
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