Massive Security Breach Hits WazirX Cryptocurrency Exchange
Recently, WazirX, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in India, fell victim to a significant security breach. The breach targeted one of the exchange’s multisig wallets, resulting in a staggering loss of over $230 million. The incident has sent shockwaves through the crypto community, raising concerns about the safety and security of digital assets.
Details of the Breach
The breach was first announced by WazirX on social media, highlighting the attack on their multisig wallet. The attacker managed to steal approximately $102.1 million in SHIB tokens, $52.6 million in Ether, $11 million in Matic, and $7.6 million in Pepe. These stolen assets accounted for more than 45% of the total reserves held by WazirX as of June 2024.
- The attacker converted most of the stolen assets into 43,800 ETH, valued at $149.46 million, and currently holds 59,097 ETH, worth $201.67 million.
- Additionally, the hacker deposited 7.7 million DENT tokens, valued at $7,300, into a previously unused Binance deposit address.
Remaining Assets
Despite the significant losses, around $15 million in assets remain, including 1.66 billion DENT, 6.76 million CHR, 78.6 million CELR, and 958,428 FRONT tokens.
Causes of the Breach
WazirX’s initial investigations indicated that the breach stemmed from a discrepancy between the displayed data on the interface and the actual transaction details. The company suspects that the attacker manipulated the payload to gain control of the wallet. However, some members of the Indian crypto community remain skeptical about this explanation, raising doubts about the security measures in place.
“There are six people, needing four to verify, yet it still got hacked, and now there’s a blame game,” commented Pankaj Tanwar, a prominent crypto influencer. He expressed concerns about the impact of this incident on the Indian crypto sector.
WazirX operated the breached wallet using Liminal’s digital asset custody and wallet infrastructure, which had been in place since February 2023. The wallet employed a multisig arrangement with six signatories, five from WazirX and one from Liminal. Despite implementing security features like the Gnosis Safe multisig platform and a whitelisting policy, the hacker managed to bypass these measures.
In Conclusion
The WazirX security breach has underscored the ongoing challenges faced by cryptocurrency exchanges in safeguarding user funds. This incident serves as a reminder of the importance of robust security measures and constant vigilance in the crypto space. Investors and traders must remain cautious and take proactive steps to protect their digital assets from potential threats and vulnerabilities.
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