WazirX’s ability to restore balances and secure assets will determine its future and industry security.
The hacked Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has announced a scheduled maintenance period to restore account balances and reverse specific trades.
According to a post on the X social platform, the maintenance will occur from 6 pm on August 15 to 2 am IST on August 16, during which all WazirX services will be temporarily suspended.
Background of the Hack
The breach, which came to light on July 18, resulted in the theft of $234.9 million in cryptocurrency assets.
Web3 security firm Cyvers first detected the hack, identifying several suspicious transactions from WazirX’s Safe Multisig wallet on Ethereum.
The attack has significantly impacted the exchange, leading to swift actions to secure the remaining assets and address the irregularities.
Users have expressed concern and dissatisfaction over the situation.
As WazirX moves forward with its restoration plan, the exchange is committed to rebuilding user trust and strengthening security measures.
However, to be transparent, WazirX plans to publish a list of all new wallets after the migration is complete.
Restoration and Responsibility Dispute
WazirX’s decision to perform maintenance stems from the need to ensure a fair outcome for its users following the irregularities caused by the hack.
By restoring account balances and undoing trades made after the withdrawal halt at 1 pm IST on July 18, the exchange aims to reduce the financial impact on its users.
The hack has sparked a dispute between WazirX and Liminal regarding who is responsible for the breach.
While Liminal employees have asserted that their platform was not compromised, WazirX has claimed the hack resulted from vulnerabilities in Liminal’s interface.
Liminal’s report suggested that compromised WazirX machines were the source of the exploit, further complicating the matter.
In a statement issued on August 14, WazirX announced that it is migrating the remaining assets held with Liminal to new multisignature (multisig) wallets.
This step is crucial for ensuring maximum asset security.
A multisig wallet is a cryptocurrency wallet that requires multiple signatures to authorize and execute transactions.
In WazirX’s case, their multisig wallet involved six authorized signers, one from Liminal and five from WazirX.
Meanwhile, the hacker responsible for the $235 million exploit has converted nearly $150 million of altcoins into Ether in an attempt to prevent the funds from being frozen or blacklisted.
