Indian Crypto Platform WazirX Confirms $230 Million Stolen in Cyber ​​Attack

At least $230 million in cryptocurrency was stolen from an India-based cryptocurrency platform called WazirX on Wednesday evening.

Several blockchain security companies AND researchers saw millions of digital coins exit the platform before the company recognized a security breach.

“Our team is actively investigating the incident,” the company said in a social media post Thursday morning. In an effort to keep the remaining assets safe, the platform has blocked all withdrawals.

The company did not respond to requests for comment on what will be done to compensate customers who have suffered losses. But in a second statement On Thursday afternoon, WazirX said a preliminary investigation found losses to have exceeded $230 million.

WazirX said that despite efforts to protect customers’ assets, the attackers “appear to have breached” their security features before the theft occurred.

“This is a force majeure event beyond our control, but we are leaving no stone unturned to locate and recover the funds. We have already blocked some deposits and contacted the affected wallets for recovery,” the company said.

In June the company reported which had approximately $500 million in reserves.

Founded in 2017, the platform is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in India, allowing people to buy, sell and trade digital assets. The company has been presumably purchased by Binance in 2019, but the two parties later clarified in 2022 that the cryptocurrency giant only intended to “purchase certain assets and intellectual property of WazirX.”

On Wednesday night, blockchain security firms including Elliptical, The Arkham AND BlockSec claimed that there was clear evidence that millions of dollars in cryptocurrency had been stolen from WazirX.

Elliptic estimated the losses at $235 million and broke down the stolen currencies, including ETH, some U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins, and more.

The attackers have “already exchanged a number of these tokens for Ether using a variety of decentralized services,” according to Elliptic, which attributed the incident to hackers affiliated with North Korea based on blockchain data and other information reviewed by the company.

Another prominent cryptographic hacking researcher She said the attack “has the potential signs of a Lazarus Group “attack” — referring to a major North Korean hacking group known for its headline-making cryptocurrency thefts.

United Nations experts They are investigating 58 cyber attacks on cryptocurrency companies, allegedly run by North Korean hackers, that allowed attackers to pocket approximately $3 billion over a six-year period.

Cybercriminals and nation states continue to exploit vulnerabilities in crypto platforms, enabling large-scale heists. Just this week, another popular crypto platform saw approximately $8 million stolen and last month over $300 million worth of Bitcoin was traded stolen from Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin.

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