WazirX resumes trading and withdrawals more than a year after a $234 million hack

Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX will resume operations without trading fees across all markets on October 24, more than a year after hackers stole $234 million in one of the largest cyber attacks in crypto history.

Backed by 95.7% of creditors, WazirX’s Singapore court-approved restructuring plan allows WazirX to reopen its exchange to 6.6 million users locked out since the July 2024 hack linked to North Korean attackers, after months of legal hurdles and creditor votes.

The platform is working to issue recovery tokens to creditors, with token distribution commencing once operations resume. INR recordings are already live, with crypto trading and withdrawals from Friday.

Trading will resume in phases, with approximately 25% of tokens enabled each day until full functionality is restored on Monday, starting with crypto-to-crypto and the USDT/INR pair before adding other INR markets, according to a statement shared with Declutter.

Users could potentially get back 75% to 80% of their frozen account balances through the company’s proposed recovery token system, although several users have reported receiving less than expected and raised concerns about inconsistent payout calculations.

WazirX has partnered with BitGo to provide institutional-level safekeeping for user assets, a major security upgrade following last year’s breach, said founder Nischal Shetty.

“The relaunch of WazirX with BitGo custody is a positive step toward rebuilding trust; however, some users on Declutter. “I hope WazirX addresses these complaints quickly; users have waited long enough to get their money back.”

Mixed reactions

However, the reboot has received mixed reactions, with several users taking to X to criticize the platform.

“Why on earth do they ask for a deposit before even returning the users who lost money for no reason. What kind of scam is this? And what gives them the power to even do it?” one user tweetedquestioning the activities of the stock exchange.

“The core problem with WazirX has always been opacity, unclear ownership, inconsistent communication and no verifiable evidence of reserves,” CA Sonu Jain, chief risk and compliance officer at 9Point Capital, and an outspoken critic of WazirX’s post-hack operations, told me. Declutter.

“Unless the new entity publishes independently verified audits and provides clear accountability for previous user funds, this ‘new chapter’ risks repeating the same governance mistakes under a new new name,” he added.

Jain also pointed to operational issues, noting that many investors are facing re-KYC requirements that are slowing down the process, with some of his customers still unable to withdraw INR despite the platform’s claims that withdrawals are live.

Declutter has contacted WazirX for comment and will update this article if they respond.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court in August ordered Zettai to produce its takeover deal with Binance and disclose details of the restructuring plan as creditors continue to push for transparency after the hack.

“According to the information so far, we estimate that investors would regain access to around 4,000cr,” Edul Patel, CEO of Indian crypto exchange Mudrex, told me. Declutter.

“While the 15% shortfall remains a concern, the structured recovery and transparent communication demonstrate a strong intention to restore confidence not only on the platform but also in the industry,” he added.