Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX said it had won approval from a Singapore court to repay customers any funds that were not stolen in a major hack last year, confirming a MONIIFY scoop.
WazirX lost $235 million in customer money in July, in one of the biggest crypto heists of 2024. It immediately froze the remaining funds to prevent more losses — and avoid a rush of withdrawals from panicked customers.
Since its parent company, Zettai, is based in Singapore, the exchange then had to seek approval from the court to release the funds.
WazirX customers aren’t celebrating yet though. More than half the 4.2 million hack victims have to agree in a vote to restore the money before it can be paid out. The voting process will be handled by an independent entity and should take place within three months of the court ruling.
The vote will take place over 10 days and be audited by the court.
“This decision is a significant step in Zettai’s efforts to distribute assets associated with WazirX to users, and to revive operations of the platform,” the firm said.
Key elements of the approval include reorganizing WazirX liabilities to optimize returns for customers, and the issuance of recovery tokens, a mechanism to manage the return of funds to customers.
Read more: Inside the hunt to recover WazirX’s stolen crypto millions
The hack
The WazirX hack caused outrage among customers who found they’d not only lost some of their investments — but also lost access to remaining funds.
The exchange later asked a Singapore court to protect it from legal action by disgruntled customers. In September 2024, the court granted a four-month temporary pause on any activity.
In the seven months since the hack, a bull run in the crypto market has significantly raised the value of the frozen coins — essentially minimizing or wiping out the losses at today’s prices. It is unclear what the value of the funds will be by the time the repayment process is completed.
WazirX has so far been able to find and freeze $3 million of the stolen $235 million, but there’s no guarantee the rest will be recovered.
Earlier this month, the US and South Korea said North Korean hackers were behind the hack.
Updated with details of announcement from WazirX at 5:15 pm on 23 January.
Edited by Lin Noueihed and Ankush Chibber. If you have any tips, ideas or feedback, please get in touch: talk-to-us@moniify.com
