WazirX schedules maintenance to restore balances post $234M hack

WazirX’s ability to restore balances and secure assets will shape its future and industry security.

Hacked Indian crypto exchange WazirX has announced details of a maintenance period designed to restore account balances and undo specific trades. 

According to a post on the X social platform, this maintenance will take place from 6 pm on Aug. 15 to 2 am IST on Aug. 16, during which all services on WazirX will be temporarily unavailable.

Background of the hack

The incident surfaced on July 18 and involved the theft of $234.9 million in cryptocurrency assets. The breach was first detected by Web3 security firm Cyvers, which identified multiple suspicious transactions originating from WazirX’s Safe Multisig wallet on Ethereum. 

The hack has significantly affected the exchange, prompting immediate action to secure the remaining assets and address the discrepancies. Users of the exchange have also expressed concern and dissatisfaction with the situation.

As WazirX progresses with its restoration plan, the exchange is focused on rebuilding user trust and enhancing security measures. In a move towards transparency, WazirX intends to publish a list of all new wallets after the migration is finalized.

Restoration and responsibility dispute 

WazirX’s decision to undergo maintenance is driven by the need to ensure a fair outcome for its users in response to the irregularities caused by the hack.

By restoring account balances and reversing trades made after the withdrawal stoppage at 1 pm IST on July 18th, the exchange aims to mitigate the financial impact on its users.

The hack has led to a dispute between WazirX and Liminal regarding the responsibility for the breach. While Liminal employees have claimed that their platform was not compromised, WazirX has maintained that the hack was due to vulnerabilities in Liminal’s interface. 

Related: Top 100 DeFi Hacks: Offchain attack vectors account for 57% of losses

Liminal released a report suggesting that the exploit was caused by compromised WazirX machines, further complicating the situation.

In a statement released on Aug. 14, WazirX said it is migrating the remaining assets held with Liminal to new multisignature (multisig) wallets. This step is essential to ensure the maximum security of the assets.

A multisig wallet is a crypto wallet that mandates multiple signatures to validate and process transactions. In the case of WazirX, their multisig wallet had six authorized signers, with one from Liminal and five from WazirX.

Meanwhile, the hacker behind the $235 million exploit of WazirX has converted nearly $150 million of altcoins to Ether in a move to avoid having the funds frozen or blacklisted. 

Magazine: Crypto-Sec: Evolve Bank suffers data breach, Turbo Toad enthusiast loses $3.6K