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Will WazirX’s $23 Million Bounty Recover $230 Million In Losses?

WazirX has launched a bounty program looking to recover digital assets worth over $230 million lost in a cyber attack on 18 July 2024.

By Akriti Seth

Last Updated: Jul 22, 2024

Hackers have stolen over $50 million in ETH, $7.5 million in PEPE and over $100 million in SHIB from Indian exhchange, WazirX.

WazirX has launched a bounty program looking to recover digital assets worth over $230 million lost in a cyber attack on 18 July 2024. The Indian crypto exchange had halted deposits and withdrawals, after the company reported the cyber theft to the Indian regulators.

As a part of the bounty to recover the whopping $230 million, WazirX said on 21 July 2024, that it would give rewards of up to $10,000 worth of USDT for actionable intelligence that leads to the freezing of the funds.

Furthermore, the company has offered 10% of the recovered amount as a white hat incentive, which totals to $23 million. “This reward will be disbursed only after and subject to the successful receipt of the stolen amount by WazirX,” the company specified.

The bounty program will run till October 2024.

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Will WazirX be Able To Restore Confidence In Its Platform?

After launching the bounty program, the company apparently received a positive response from the white hacker community. Founder and CEO of WazirX wrote on X, “We’re glad to see such a great response from the white hacker community to help us with stolen asset recovery. If the community gets together, even the hardest problems can be solved.”

He added, “In the meantime, we’re working on figuring the withdrawal process, we will inform as soon”

With over 16 million users, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange suffered a huge security breach, with millions worth of tokens being transferred. The most notable tokens being ETH, PEPE, SHIB, MATIC & USDT.

WazirX’s multisig Ethereum wallet, which is a critical component of the company’s operations, was compromised. It was swiftly found that the attack was linked to North Korean hackers, who targeted WazirX’s multi-signature wallets. The North Korean hackers exploited a discrepancy between the interface of Liminal, a digital asset security platform, and the actual transaction data.

The breach has significantly impacted the platform’s ability to maintain 1:1 collateralization of assets, prompting immediate and robust recovery efforts.

WazirX’s bounty program is a global call to action, but the question remains, will WazirX be able to recover stolen funds?

Read more: Indian Crypto Exchange WazirX Suffers Security Breach: Hackers Steal Over $230m

The incident has been reported to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

Chainalysis Report Finds Increase In Illicit Actors Turning To Crypto To Launder Money

“In 2024, money laundering in crypto encompasses all crime — not just that which is inherently tied to the crypto ecosystem,” the Chainalysis report released in July 2024 stated. “In 2024, money laundering in crypto encompasses all crime — not just that which is inherently tied to the crypto ecosystem.”

According to the report, crypto is increasingly being used to launder funds. However, the funds are not related to blockchain crimes, such as darknet market or ransomware operations. Crypto laundering now includes proceeds from various off-chain crimes, such as narcotics trafficking and fraud.

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Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.

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Disclaimer
Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
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Akriti Seth
Akriti Seth
Editor

Akriti Seth is a Zurich-based Business Journalist and Crypto Editor. Her passion for journalism has taken her across the globe – from thriving as an on-television correspondent to writing engaging articles, she has worked for companies like Informa UK, Bloomberg... Read More

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