Singapore’s High Court has granted WazirX a four-month conditional moratorium to restructure its liabilities after the platform suffered a $230 million security breach, The Block reported.
Meanwhile, the entity behind the hack continues to launder the stolen funds in batches of 5,000 ETH ($13 million) via crypto mixer Tornado Cash.
Zettai Pte Ltd, the Singaporean holding company of Indian crypto exchange WazirX, has been granted a four-month stay order by the Singapore High Court to restructure its liabilities following a $230 million security breach the platform suffered in July.
The application, filed on August 27 by Zettai director Nischal Shetty, was intended to provide the company with “buffer space” to process and facilitate the recovery of users’ cryptocurrency balances on the platform, Zettai said at the time.
After the petition was filed, the court automatically initiated a 30-day stay, but the subsequent grant fell short of the six-month stay initially requested.
“We are grateful for the court’s decision, which allows us to focus on the path of resolution, recovery, and restructuring," WazirX founder Nischal Shetty said in a statement shared with Blockchain. "Our immediate application for a moratorium is a critical step in ensuring the quickest, fairest, creditor-approved, legally binding resolution path with token options and potential gains in a bull run.”
Under the conditions approved by the court, WazirX said it would make its wallet addresses public, respond to user queries raised in court, publish financial information, and ensure that voting on future court applications is reviewed by independent parties. “We are actively working with our advisors and stakeholders to develop a comprehensive plan to meet the needs of interested parties,” the company said.
"WazirX will continue to provide updates on our progress and further developments. We are firmly committed to resolving this matter efficiently and fairly," Shetty added.
WazirX Breach, Binance Accusations, and Hacker’s Tornado Cash TransfersWazirX suffered a security breach on July 18, resulting in the unauthorized transfer of over $230 million in crypto assets. The attack targeted the exchange’s Ethereum network multi-signature wallets, likely due to a compromised private key, leading to the theft of funds.
The crypto exchange suspended withdrawals that day, but halted trading across the entire platform just days later as it continued to deal with the fallout from the breach.
Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said in a July report that on-chain data suggests the attack was carried out by North Korea’s Lazarus Group, a state-backed hacking group known for carrying out high-profile attacks.
Last week, Binance reiterated its statement that it does not own, control or operate WazirX in any way. Although the two parties had signed a contract, the deal was never completed due to "Zettai's failure to perform its obligations," Binance said.
Binance alleged that Shetty made “misleading statements” in two affidavits subsequently filed, contradicting its application to the high court.
Meanwhile, the entities behind the WazirX hack continue to move the stolen funds in batches, frequently in 5,000 ether ($13 million) transfers to U.S.-sanctioned crypto mixer Tornado Cash, with the latest transfer occurring on Wednesday.
Sending funds to mixers is a common tactic used by cybercriminals to make it more difficult for law enforcement agencies to track and recover stolen cryptocurrency.
According to on-chain analytics platform Arkham, the attackers have transferred more than 61,500 ether ($161 million) to the crypto mixer so far.
