The hackers responsible for breaching the Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX in July are reportedly nearing the completion of laundering the stolen funds, estimated to be worth over ₹2,000 crore. Once all the funds are laundered, the chances of recovering them will be greatly diminished.
Overview of the Breach
In July, hackers breached the cryptocurrency exchange WazirX and stole funds worth over ₹2,000 crore. Since then, they have continuously transferred the stolen funds in batches to new addresses and then used the crypto mixer Tornado Cash to launder the funds.
Current Status of Stolen Funds
According to Arkham's blockchain data, hackers transferred over ₹400 crore (approx $50 million) worth of tokens in August and the remaining amount in September. Currently, the wallet holding stolen funds from WazirX is down to only $6 million worth of ether (ETH). The stolen funds accounted for over 45% of the total reserves cited by the exchange in a June 2024 report. The exchange has since filed for a restructuring process in Singapore to clear its liabilities.
Binance's Response and Next Steps
Amidst this, Binance, which has had a contentious relationship with WazirX, asserts that it should not be involved in this case, emphasizing that it does not control or operate WazirX. WazirX founder Nischal Shetty also commented on this matter on platform X in August, highlighting that it is still unclear who will compensate WazirX users for the stolen amount.
The situation with the WazirX breach continues to develop. The fate of the stolen funds and the next steps remain uncertain, causing considerable concern among the exchange's users.
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