Hello and Namaste Everyone
Today is terrible for the Indian crypto industry because one of the biggest exchanges has been hacked. This exchange is called Wazirx and it is hacked for the value of $230 million. This amount is almost 50% of their crypto holding according to the latest proof of reserve report. Currently, the exchange has disabled the withdrawal for Crypto and Fiat currency as they are investigating the case and they are yet to share the official announcement of the hack. As for them, it's a security breach on their multi SIG wallet and they are investigating it further to find the root cause.
It is one of the biggest exchanges in India and it holds almost 33% of the user base in the country. There are total aid exchanges in India and out of this it is one of the exchanges holding a bigger chunk of the market. The amount that is stolen from the exchange wallet is huge and in the Asian crypto market, this is the biggest ever crypto hack. The biggest question is whether the funds are safe or not. It is only possible if there was insurance on the Crypto but as of now, there is no update on the fund safety and the exchange has not shared any update about it.
Indian crypto exchange Wazirx has announced a security breach affecting one of its multisig wallets, resulting in the theft of over $230 million. Cryptocurrency and INR withdrawals have been halted as the team investigates the incident.
Everyone is talking about this hack because in Indian currency the fund value is approximately 2000 Crore INR. This is a very big amount in India and now the Indian budget is around the corner we are expecting some relaxation for the Crypto industry but looks like that is not going to happen just because of this incident.
The hashtag is trending on X and in India, everyone is talking about this news. I believe that now the Indian media is going to play with this news because now they have some topics to talk about and anyway they are not friendly to the crypto industry. It is also a matter of worry how the government is going to take this up because the budget is scheduled for 23rd July and if there is any relaxation which is part of the budget might not happen now because of this serious issue.
There is nothing that the exchange users can do as of now since all the withdrawals are passed but it is raising the question of whether can we rely on centralized exchanges. I think now it is again a matter of discussion where we need to think that self-custody is always the best option and not keep your funds in an exchange wallet unless it is really necessary for the trading. In India, there is a problem that some of the exchanges are not providing easy withdrawal and this is why it is necessary or a kind of foundation for the users to keep their crypto in the exchange. The withdrawals are not an easy process in India because of the government rules and hopefully, after this incident, something positive happens from the government side also for the exchanges to follow is strict and highly secure in infrastructure for the fund safety.
I'm a user of the exchange but I'm happy that I had no funds in the wallet because I'm not a trader and this is the reason why I don't keep any funds in the exchange wallet. I'm feeling sad for those who are affected by these tragic incidents and I hope the exchange works to bring some solution for them to reimburse them for this loss but let's see what the exchange announces about it
Thank you so much
Stay Safe