Indian Govt. Officials Probe Crypto Exchange WazirX’s $234M Hack: Report

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Sujha Sundararajan

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Sujha Sundararajan

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Last updated: 

October 7, 2024

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The troubled Indian crypto exchange WazirX’s founders reportedly faced questions from government officials who sought information on the illegal transfer of cryptos from its wallets on July 18.

Local Indian news outlet Moneycontrol reported the investigation earlier today. WazirX founders met with a team of officials from the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Intelligence Bureau (IB), and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) in the exchange’s Mumbai office over the past few weeks.

Sources told the publication that a team of eight to ten officials from the agencies interacted with the WazirX executives. They reportedly discussed ways to figure out how tokens worth $235 million were moved to the hackers.

WazirX also checked the possibility of an inside job; however, “no foul play has been detected as of now.”

The exchange shared transaction details, hacker-linked blockchain addresses, and servers in the laptop logs. The report read that no personal assets like laptops were confiscated.

“The government is concerned about the size of the illegal transfer in WazirX as it impacts retail investors,” another source noted.

“The government agencies have reached out for some data to understand the structure, how the transfers happen and liquidity, etc. The hack happened because there are grey areas as the sector is unregulated.”

FIU Reach Out to Crypto Stakeholders Post WazirX Hack

Following the hack, the FIU, the national agency collecting information about suspected financial transactions, has contacted some crypto industry stakeholders. The FIU agency is part of the Ministry of Finance.

Intelligence Bureau (IB), under the Home Ministry, is reviewing the security and counterintelligence aspects of the major hack. Furthermore, CERT-In, as a nodal agency dealing with cybersecurity threats and is looking into the technical side of the WazirX hack.

WazirX, one of the leading Indian crypto exchanges, witnessed a major security breach on July 18, draining $234 million. The funds were stolen from its Ethereum wallet and the exchange lost nearly 45% of its holding assets.

The probe comes amidst the exchange’s restructuring plans. WazirX parent firm Zettai is engaging with 11 crypto exchanges and trading firms to secure emergency funding.

Additionally, on October 4, WazirX announced that it would form a Committee of Creditors (COC) as part of the restructuring process for Zettai Pte Ltd.