Crypto platform WazirX faces security breach, sees withdrawal of $230 million

Indian crypto exchange WazirX experienced over $230 million in withdrawals during early European hours on Thursday due to a security breach that impacted one of its wallets, resulting in the loss of user funds.

“We're aware that one of our multisig wallets has experienced a security breach. Our team is actively investigating the incident. To ensure the safety of your assets, INR and crypto withdrawals will be temporarily paused. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We'll keep you posted with further updates,” the crypto platform said in a post on X.

The exchange has confirmed the incident, stating that it is currently investigating the outflows and has temporarily suspended all withdrawals.

“We have identified 2 more exploited smart contracts. Our team is still investigating the incident. For the time being we have opened up a secluded website to revoke all approvals. Your funds are at risk until you revoke,” the firm added.

Multisig wallets are a type of cryptocurrency wallet that necessitates two or more private keys to authenticate and confirm transactions before they can be processed.

Early blockchain data tracked by Lookonchain indicates that over $100 million worth of Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens were withdrawn, marking the largest loss among the funds, followed by $52 million in Ether (ETH), $11 million in Matic's MATIC, and $6 million in Pepe (PEPE).

Transactional data indicates that the exploiter is actively selling the stolen assets on the on-chain exchange Uniswap. Although the exploiter has not yet sold their ETH holdings, they currently possess over $4.2 million in FLOKI tokens.

WazirX, popular among Indian traders, primarily targets the Indian market and is one of the few exchanges in the country registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). This registration allows WazirX to offer crypto exchange services to Indian citizens.

According to CoinGecko data, WazirX has facilitated at least $2.2 million in trading volume over the past 24 hours, with the majority of transactions involving tether (USDT) stablecoins and XRP.