North Korean Hackers Steal $230 Million from WazirX, Convert Loot to Ether

WazirX Hacked: North Korean Exploiter Converts Stolen Loot to Ether

The North Korea-linked exploiter who targeted WazirX has converted the majority of the $230 million stolen user assets into ether (ETH), totaling $200 million. This exploit significantly impacted WazirX's liquidity and listed token prices, with the exchange's WRX token plunging 40% in the past 24 hours.

WazirX blamed a mismatch between a digital interface and a major crypto wallet for triggering the exploit, despite having five signers from the exchange on a wallet that stored user assets.

Impact on WazirX and Crypto Market

The exploit caused almost all tokens listed on WazirX to trade at steep discounts to their global and local prices, a sign of poor liquidity and immense selling pressure.

• The bitcoin/rupee-denominated trading pair was down 22% in the past 24 hours, compared to other local bourses such as CoinDCX and Zebpay where prices were down 2%. The shiba inu/rupee pair is down 30%.
• WazirX's own WRX token is down 40% in the past 24 hours.
• Trading volumes on the exchange rose to $8 million in the past 24 hours compared to $2.2 million on Wednesday.

Doubts and Concerns

The explanation provided by WazirX regarding a mismatch between the interface and the wallet has been met with skepticism from the Indian crypto community. Many believe the exchange's security measures were insufficient, considering that five signers were required to verify transactions.

Some in the Indian crypto community, however, expressed distrust over that explanation. “6 people there, need 4 to verify still hacked and blame game,” said Pankaj Tanwar, a popular crypto YouTuber, on X. “This mistake will damage #Crypto in India beyond imagination.” “How is this good security? What kind of compliance is going on exchanges?,” said @studybitcoin21, who runs a Bitcoin podcast.

Aftermath

Crypto and fiat withdrawals from WazirX are temporarily paused. The stolen funds accounted for over 45% of the total reserves cited by the exchange in a June 2024 report – effectively dampening hopes of a recovery among users.

This incident highlights the vulnerabilities in the crypto space and the need for robust security measures to prevent similar exploits in the future.