Johann Wilfred
What is WazirX?
WazirX is an Indian crypto exchange that was co-founded in 2018 by Nischal Shetty, Siddharth Menon, and Sameer Mhatre. The platform offers all the majorly traded cryptocurrencies with a pro-India vision.
According to its website, the exchange serves over 16 million users and lists 350+ tokens for trading purposes. The company maintained frontrunner status in the market until a substantial hack depleted nearly 50% of exchange holdings.
Details of the hack
On July 18, 2024, North Korean hacker group, Lazarus, allegedly infiltrated the crypto exchange WazirX and stole approximately $234.9 million in funds.
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Despite having strong security measures in place, WazirX lost approximately 50% of its assets. The major tokens lost included SHIB, ETH, MATIC, PEPE, USDT, FLOKI, and others. The hackers then exchanged a number of these tokens for ETH, a typical practice seen in laundering, according to a report by Elliptic.
Rival company Coinswitch sued WazirX for failing to recover its trapped funds of $9.65 million.
Fallout and response
In response, WazirX froze all accounts as it tried to figure out the situation. The Singapore court granted Zettai Pte Ltd—the Singaporean-based parent company of Wazir X—a four-month moratorium to carry out the restructuring process.
The next year, around January 2025, the Singapore high court allowed the company to form a scheme by which investors should be able to receive some of their stolen crypto.
WazirX also proposed the solution of setting up a recovery token to help investors get some of their money back. This idea was proposed in league with risk advisory firm Kroll in a town hall event shortly after the fallout.
On the 4th of April 2025, an X post by WazirX showed the expected outcomes of what would happen if the scheme were to be approved or not.
The exchange’s scheme received overall approval from its creditors to carry out the scheme. A total of 141,476 creditors voted with 93.1% in favor. The scheme details the following: an initial distribution of liquid assets within 10 business days of the scheme becoming effective and a second distribution of recovery tokens to creditors.
Current standing
WazirX expects to resume withdrawals and trading very soon. The company has stated its intention to further compensate investors out of operational profits once the exchange is up and running. WazirX appears to be heading for operational status in the crypto market again.
