Indian Exchange WazirX Hacked for $230M

The massive theft of user funds was perpetrated by North Korean hackers, Elliptic says.

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Indian crypto exchange WazirX experienced a security breach in one of its multi-sig wallets, resulting in the loss of $230M in user funds.

What's the scoop?

  • Stolen Funds: The largest portions of tokens stolen were $100M SHIB, $52M ETH, $11M MATIC, and $6M PEPE, which are being actively sold on Uniswap.
  • Impact on Reserves: These stolen funds account for over 45% of the total reserves cited by the exchange in a June 2024 report.
  • Party Responsible: Onchain analyst Elliptic stated that North Korean hackers like the state-sponsored Lazarus Group are behind the attack. 

Bankless take:

It’s been a big week for hacks. As one of India’s largest exchanges, WazirX's hack may weigh further on the country’s cautious approach to crypto, which has leaned more hostile with high capital gains taxes so far despite leading global adoption the past year. For now the Indian Financial Ministry declined to comment on the hack or what it spells for the crypto in the country.


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David C

Written by David C

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David is a writer/analyst at Bankless. Prior to joining Bankless, he worked for a series of early-stage crypto startups and on grants from the Ethereum, Solana, and Urbit Foundations. He graduated from Skidmore College in New York. He currently lives in the Midwest and enjoys NFTs, but no longer participates in them.

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