WazirX Files for Moratorium in Singapore Court

• WazirX said it would take at least six months for the restructuring to occur, after which its users would receive their deposits.
• The exchange maintains that this approach is the best route for all parties involved.

Indian exchange WazirX filed for a moratorium in the Singapore High Court on August 27 under its parent company, Zettai Pte, registered in the city nation. The move comes as the exchange restructures its liabilities under the Singapore Scheme of Agreement after having over $230 million stolen by hackers in July.

The moratorium, if granted by the court, will offer WazirX “breathing space while Zettai progresses with a restructuring, which represents the most efficient way to address users’ cryptocurrency balances on the Platform and facilitate recovery for users,” it said in an announcement. As a result of this filing, the exchange receives an “automatic moratorium of 30 days” as the court decides to grant WazirX’s restructuring request. The court has yet to schedule a hearing regarding the restructuring.

Furthermore, the announcement stated how the restructuring will benefit its users who cannot presently access their funds. Through it, “the impact from the cyberattack will be allocated pro-rata across users who rank equally with each other as unsecured creditors, and users will receive a share of available token assets associated with the Platform proportionate to their share of all users’ unsecured claims for their account balances.” WazirX further iterated that the restructuring marks the best way forward for its users because “resolving crypto balances through alternative routes could involve undefined risks and timelines.”

CoinSwitch Decides to Take Legal Action Against WazirX

As WazirX filed for the moratorium, Indian crypto platform CoinSwitch, which stored $9.6 million on the exchange, declared that it has “no choice but to pursue legal action to recover the funds.” For now, the 30-day moratorium period WazirX has received will protect it against the legal action brought by CoinSwitch. That can extend to at least six months, depending on the decision taken by the court.