• Wazirx crypto exchange has paused deposits, withdrawals, and trading, and launched a $23 million bounty program to recover the stolen assets within 24 hours.

Indian cryptocurrency exchange Wazirx is working to resume withdrawals and trading after a major security breach compromised a multisig wallet, resulting in the theft of over $230 million. 

We are actively working on enabling withdrawals for our users.

We appreciate your patience during this complex process. We will provide updates as soon as we have more information.

You can read our day-by-day incident report here https://t.co/VUL18mfsA7

— WazirX: India Ka Bitcoin Exchange (@WazirXIndia) July 22, 2024

The exchange has paused deposits, withdrawals, and trading, and launched a $23 million bounty program to recover the stolen assets. 

Within 24 hours, Wazirx received over 80 intents for the bounty program. Additionally, Wazirx has warned users about scammers impersonating the exchange to defraud them.

Wazirx Pauses Operations Following Major Security Breach

Indian cryptocurrency exchange Wazirx has announced that it is diligently working to resume withdrawals for its users following a significant security breach that compromised one of its multisig wallets, resulting in the theft of over $230 million.

“We are actively working on enabling withdrawals for our users. We appreciate your patience during this complex process,” the exchange communicated via social media platform X on Monday. 

In response to the breach, Wazirx launched a $23 million bounty program to track, freeze, and recover the stolen assets. The exchange revealed:

We’ve received over 80 intents for our bounty program within 24 hours. Time is critical. We urgently need more support from our ecosystem, security professionals, and ethical hackers. 

While $23 million is the bounty, your impact on the community is invaluable.

Based on @zachxbt's feedback, we have increased the White Hat Recovery reward to 10%, i.e., up to $23 Million.

We invite white hat hackers, blockchain forensics experts, and cybersecurity professionals from around the world to join this critical mission and protect the integrity… https://t.co/WasoyJT5UX

— WazirX: India Ka Bitcoin Exchange (@WazirXIndia) July 21, 2024

In an update on social media platform X, Wazirx informed users that deposits, withdrawals, and trading have been paused for all users following the security breach. 

“Trading has been temporarily paused. The cyber attack theft has impacted our ability to maintain 1:1 collaterals with assets, and we’ve temporarily paused trading,” the crypto platform explained.

Wazirx further cautioned:

“Deposits, withdrawals, and trading are currently paused for ALL users. Beware of individuals impersonating us and scamming users.”

“We’re conducting thorough forensic data examination and security audit procedures and working to enable withdrawals soon,” the crypto exchange noted.

What do you think about the security breach at Wazirx and the exchange’s response? Let us know in the comments section below.