Indian crypto exchange WazirX on Thursday informed its users about a security breach, which reportedly led to the suspicious movement of funds worth $234.9 million (approximately Rs. 1,965 crore) to a Tornado Cash-linked wallet. Many crypto investors in India have expressed concern over the possible loss of user funds. WazirX’s rivals in India, including CoinDCX, Giottus and CoinSwitch, have assured their users that their funds are safe. Earlier on Thursday, WazirX said it was investigating the incident and has yet to provide additional information about the alleged breach.
Other crypto companies have warned investors that the market may experience some volatility in the wake of the alleged WazirX breach. The founders of some of these crypto exchanges have asked investors to be cautious with their financial decisions in the coming days. CEO of CoinSwitch Ashish SinghalCo-founder of CoinDCX Neeraj Khandelwaland Giottus CEO Vikram Subburaj asked crypto investors to remain calm after WazirX acknowledged it was investigating the alleged data breach.
The government has remained skeptical about embracing the cryptocurrency sector, which is currently worth $2.36 trillion (roughly Rs. 2,36,000 crore). It is highly volatile and governments across the world are concerned that incorporating crypto into existing financial systems could eventually disrupt monetary stability due to constantly fluctuating prices.
The alleged WazirX hack came to light just days before Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Union Budget for the financial year 2024-25. The crypto sector in India has been urging the government to revise the crypto tax regime and introduce incentives to promote the sector. This incident could dampen the chances of any positive development that could have been expected from the government as part of this budget.
Reactions on social media expressing concern and disappointment over the WazirX mega hack have been pouring in. Some have also noticed changes in crypto prices following the attack.
According to the latest POR report, Wazirx held crypto worth $503 million.
Hack is now worth $230 million.
If this amount is not recovered, it could cause a major problem for the stock exchange. photo.twitter.com/OAGa0KQJRB
— Aditya Singh (@CryptooAdy) July 18, 2024
Shiba Inu price has dropped amid concerns of a SHIB sell-off following the WazirX hack. The hack has raised fears of increased selling pressure on the token, leading to a drop in its value. This incident highlights the potential risks and vulnerabilities in the… photo.twitter.com/KcfwknlLWo
—Ricards (@Ricardswo) July 18, 2024
WazirX deposit and withdrawal services were halted earlier on Thursday and were still unavailable at the time of publishing this story.
Meanwhile, cybersecurity firm Arkham Intel has a premium to identify a vulnerability related to this hack on WazirX. The bounty Arkham offered was 5,000 ARKM, and the platform later announced that a user on X (@ZachXBT) had solved the bounty.
“@ZachXBT has provided definitive evidence of a KYC-linked deposit address used by the operator to receive funds from the WazirX exploit. This meets one of the bounty criteria: ‘Identify a KYC centralized exchange deposit’. This information will be shared with the WazirX team,” the company said said in a message on X.
