In a significant breach, Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has fallen victim to a $235 million hack. The funds were moved from the exchange’s Safe Multisig wallet on Ethereum, which was then converted into Ether.

The breach was first identified by Web3 security firm Cyvers, which detected multiple suspicious transactions involving WazirX’s wallet. According to their findings, $234.9 million was moved to a new address. Each transaction was funded through Tornado Cash, a decentralized protocol known for enabling private transactions.

Funds Converted and Swapped

The attackers quickly swapped the stolen funds, which included Tether (USDT), Pepe (PEPE), and Gala (GALA) tokens, into Ether (ETH). This rapid conversion has made tracing and recovery more challenging.

According to crypto sleuth ZachXBT, the attackers’ primary address still holds over $104 million. The wallet is composed of approximately $100 million in Shiba Inu (SHIB), $52 million in ETH, and $11 million in Polygon (MATIC). Additional holdings include $4.7 million in FLOKI, $3.2 million in Fantom (FTM), $2.8 million in Chainlink (LINK), $2.3 million in Fetch.ai (FET), and smaller amounts of various other tokens.

WazirX Suspends Withdrawals

In response to the hack, WazirX has temporarily halted withdrawals of both cryptocurrencies and Indian rupees. The exchange announced on social media that they are actively investigating the incident and will provide updates as more information becomes available.

WazirX has not yet commented on the safety of user funds or the measures being taken to recover the stolen assets. This incident comes at a time when the Indian cryptocurrency market is already facing regulatory challenges. Recently, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Indian Ministry of Finance issued compliance notices to multiple foreign crypto exchanges, requesting they cease operations in India.

The Future of Crypto in India

The Indian government has been discussing a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market for nearly four years, but uncertainty still looms. This latest incident adds to the complexities of ensuring a secure and regulated environment for crypto trading in the country.

As WazirX continues its investigation, users and stakeholders in the Indian crypto market await further updates on the situation and potential recovery of the stolen funds.