Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has found and frozen $3 million of the nearly $235 million in funds that were stolen by hackers last year.
Since WazirX’s parent company is registered in Singapore, a court there will need to kickstart the legal process of returning the money to the complete control of the exchange.
A WazirX spokesperson declined to identify the account or wallet where the $3 million worth of USDT stablecoin was located, saying that recovery efforts were ongoing “and disclosing details can potentially affect such efforts.”
WazirX is one of India’s most prominent crypto exchanges and the hack was one of the biggest heists of 2024. On Tuesday, the US and South Korea said North Korea was behind the hack, a likelihood MONIIFY had reported on earlier.
Despite a police effort to trace the funds, no money has yet been returned to millions of customers who lost their investments.
Read More: Inside the hunt to recover WazirX’s stolen crypto millions
WazirX said in its statement it was working with law enforcement agencies, forensic experts, investigating authorities and legal experts to recover the funds.
MONIIFY has previously reported that a parallel investigation involving informal collaboration and intelligence-sharing between volunteer crypto experts, blockchain forensics companies and government agencies like the FBI may be more likely to crack the case.
While the $3 million might be a small amount, recoveries of any stolen funds in crypto can take months or even years. Often, full recovery never takes place.
Edited by Lin Noueihed. If you have any tips, ideas or feedback, please get in touch: talk-to-us@moniify.com
