Breaking: $234 Million Withdrawn from Indian Exchange WazirX, Withdrawal Process Halted

WazirX, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange in India, has reported a loss of $234 million due to a series of questionable transactions today.

The exchange acknowledged the security incident and has temporarily halted withdrawals.

Previously, blockchain security firm Cyvers Alerts indicated that their system identified several suspicious transactions linked to WazirX’s Safe Multisig wallet on the Ethereum blockchain.

Update: We are aware that one of our multisig wallets has suffered a security breach. Our team is currently investigating the situation. To protect your assets, withdrawals in INR and crypto will be temporarily suspended. We appreciate your patience and understanding.…

— WazirX: India Ka Bitcoin Exchange (@WazirXIndia) July 18, 2024

A total of $234.9 million has been transferred to a different address. Each transaction’s initiator is funded through Tornado Cash, it was noted.

The suspicious wallet “0x04b2” has already liquidated $7.6 million in PEPE and exchanged GALA and USDT for ETH.

Data from Lookonchain reveals that Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens were the most withdrawn, totaling over $100 million. This was followed by $52 million in Ether (ETH), $11 million in Matic (MATIC), and $6 million in Pepe (PEPE). The hacker has commenced selling these assets.

Update: #WazirX has approximately $230 million in assets stolen. This includes:

5.43 trillion $SHIB ($102 million)
15,298 $ETH ($52.5 million)
20.5 million $MATIC ($11.24 million)
640.27 billion $PEPE ($7.6 million)
5.79 million $USDT
135 million $GALA ($3.5 million)
…

Please be aware that the hacker is liquidating these assets! https://t.co/1uOozAVeM1 https://t.co/ogtVSFITK9 pic.twitter.com/3vPmxqXwbL

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 18, 2024

Bradley Park, a Web3 Analyst at CryptoQuant, informed CryptoNews: “This represents the SHIB reserve on WazirX. It is evident that 5.4 trillion has been withdrawn from the exchange. These assets are likely to be converted to Ethereum at any moment.

Source: CryptoQuant

According to WazirX’s most recent Proof of Reserve report, the exchange’s total assets were valued at just over $502 million.

This breach represents a significant challenge for the Indian crypto exchange, which is already facing scrutiny from regulatory bodies. Indian exchanges are experiencing considerable pressure due to diminished trading volumes following the introduction of a 1% TDS on every transaction. Retail customers are increasingly opting for foreign exchanges to evade these taxes.

Previously, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FUI) blocked the URLs of several foreign cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, for failing to adhere to local anti-money laundering regulations.

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