Rs 2,000 Crore WazirX Hack: Government Investigates as Users Await Refunds
The cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, which experienced a significant cyber theft of Rs 2,000 crore (approximately $234 million) in July, is now under investigation by top government agencies as millions of users await refunds for their lost digital assets.
Officials from the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) have met with WazirX’s leadership to discuss the hacking incident and its implications for investors. The exchange has cooperated by providing the requested information, and the probe agencies are currently reviewing the details.
Legal experts have called for a comprehensive investigation due to the scale of the cyber-crime affecting WazirX. The exchange has acknowledged that around 43 percent of its users may lose their stolen funds, with the impact being most significant for users in India.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that the hackers responsible for the WazirX breach have begun withdrawing stolen digital assets through Tornado Cash, a decentralized cryptocurrency mixer operating on Ethereum-compatible networks.
Last week, it was reported that WazirX had removed a video from a live town hall session on YouTube, where management had discussed plans to share “100 percent profits from any future cryptocurrency price appreciation” with users. During this session, WazirX co-founder Nischal Shetty and George Gwee from Kroll, the legal firm involved in the exchange’s restructuring post-hack, addressed questions from affected users.
According to The Crypto Times, Gwee stated in the now-private video that any profits derived from cryptocurrency price increases during the restructuring would be fully shared with users. Shetty noted that 87 percent of the total 4.4 million users of WazirX hold only 8 percent of the funds on the platform.
