Biggest Indian crypto exchange WazirX hacked, $230 million funds stolen funds
July 18, 2024
India's largest cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX, has suffered a major security breach resulting in the theft of over $230 million in digital assets. WazirX saw withdrawals in early European hours on Thursday (July 18) as a security breach affected one of its wallets, causing the loss of user funds. WazirX, which popularly calls itself as 'India Ka Bitcoin Exchange' confirmed the breach in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
WazirX primarily targets the Indian market. It is said to be among the few Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) registered exchanges in the country, allowing it to offer crypto exchange services to Indian citizens.
"We're aware that one of our multisig wallets has experienced a security breach. Our team is actively investigating the incident. To ensure the safety of your assets, INR and crypto withdrawals will be temporarily paused. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We'll keep you posted with further updates," reads the company's post on X.
Who may be behind the big hack
According to a report in Coindesk, Blockchain sleuth Elliptic, the North-Korea linked hackers appear to be behind the attack. "Transactional data shows the exploiter is actively selling the stolen holding using the onchain exchange Uniswap. The exploiter is yet to sell their ETH holdings, and holds over $4.2 million in FLOKI tokens," said the report.
Initial reports suggest that hackers exploited a vulnerability in WazirX's systems to siphon off a substantial amount of cryptocurrency, including a significant portion of the Shiba Inu (SHIB) token. The stolen funds have caused a sharp decline in the value of WazirX's native token, WRX.
This high-profile hack underscores the risks associated with cryptocurrency trading and highlights the need for robust security measures in the industry.
The hack comes at a time when the Indian government is scrutinizing the cryptocurrency industry and considering stricter regulations.
[The Times of India]
