According to an official statement on its X account, WazirX, a leading Indian crypto exchange, suffered a significant security breach and lost around $230 million worth of users’ crypto assets.
The tweet stated, “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.”
WazirX’s Historic Crypto Hack
The hack has sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency market. It is one of the largest crypto exchange thefts ever recorded, with losses exceeding $230 million at the time of reporting.
Cyvers Alert, a Web 3 security firm, was among the first to detect the attack. Their report identified several suspicious transactions on the Ethereum network on the WazirX Safe Multisig wallet.
The hacker transferred approximately $234.9 million to another wallet address, using the privacy protocol Tornado Cash to fund each transaction. Further investigations revealed that the hacker is already converting the stolen PEPE, Gala (GALA), and Tether (USDT) assets into Ethereum (ETH).
Crypto detective ZachXBT reported on his Telegram channel “Investigations by ZachXBT” that the hacker’s wallet still contains some unliquidated funds, including $100 million in Shiba Inu (SHIB) and $4.7 million in Floki Inu (FLOKI) as of the report.
WazirX Halts Withdrawal Services
Following the acknowledgment of the security breach, WazirX took measures to prevent further damage by disabling withdrawals of Indian rupees (INR) and other cryptocurrencies on the platform. They confirmed ongoing efforts to address the situation.
The frequency and severity of cryptocurrency exchange hacks have reached alarming levels, and many platforms have lost funds to cyber attacks.
Recently, threat actors hacked Lykke UK and Lykke Corp AG (Lykke), stealing over $22 million worth of crypto assets.
