WazirX Hack: Indian Exchange Announces $11M Bounty

As a seasoned researcher and someone who has closely followed the cryptocurrency market for years, I’ve seen my fair share of hacks and security breaches. The recent hack on WazirX exchange, resulting in the theft of over $230 million worth of assets, is particularly concerning.


Following a significant cyberattack this week, WazirX, a popular Indian cryptocurrency platform, has declared a reward of $11 million. Their aim is to encourage the general public to participate in the search for the misappropriated assets, potentially resulting in the return of the stolen funds.

WazirX Hack: Is The End In Sight?

Following a temporary pause in cyberattacks targeting cryptocurrency exchanges, an unexpected turn of events occurred when WazirX was hit with a massive $230 million hack on July 18. This incident marked a new milestone, with the hacker making off with vast quantities of various altcoins. According to earlier reports by Coingape, Shiba Inu took the hardest hit as over 5.4 trillion SHIB were stolen. Furthermore, the attacker also made away with 15,298 Ethereum, 20,501,141 MATIC, and 640.2 billion PEPE, among other coins.

To recover the lost $11 million, the exchange announced the initiation of a bounty program open to all. This reward comes in two parts: Track and Freeze, and White Hat Recovery.

Interested individuals have the opportunity to collaborate in the Track & Freeze feature by monitoring the movement of funds. A reward of $10,000 is up for grabs for anyone who successfully identifies and freezes the wallets linked to the WazirX hack perpetrator.

As a researcher studying the White Hat Recovery initiative by the Indian exchange, I’ve discovered that they have announced a reward of 5% for any successfully recovered funds in this campaign.

As our team collaborates with expert security firms to retrieve the stolen funds, we’re additionally inviting the public to join us in this effort by launching a reward program.

Up to 11mil for the bounty.

— Siddharth Menon | Tegro (@BuddhaSource) July 21, 2024

As a crypto investor, I’ve noticed that participating in bounty programs has led to successful recoveries of funds in past situations. The trading platform is hopeful that this approach will be an effective and time-saving solution for getting our assets back. Hackers may even earn “White Hat” status if they choose to return the stolen cryptocurrency voluntarily. However, it was initially reported that some of the stolen assets had already been exchanged for Ethereum by the perpetrators.

The Need For Caution

Crypto exchanges work hard to protect their systems against potential risks. Following the recent hack on WazirX, CoinDCX CEO Sumit Gupta has issued a warning: there’s been an increase in the number of fraudulent compensation emails circulating rapidly.

Industry leaders have sounded the alarm, urging caution. The origin of the next cyberattack is uncertain, but users can take steps to protect their assets in advance.

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2024-07-21 17:41