WazirX To Resume Trading After 16-Month Shutdown

Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX will resume trading on Friday, sixteen months after a devastating hack forced the suspension of all operations on the platform. 

The $230 million security breach, orchestrated by the dreaded Lazarus Group, effectively took India’s oldest cryptocurrency exchange offline. 

WazirX To Resume Operations 

Once India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX, is set to resume operations on Friday after a sixteen-month hiatus. The platform went offline after a $230 million security breach crippled the exchange, forcing it to halt operations and freeze user funds. WazirX co-founder Nischal Shetty confirmed that trading will resume on October 24, and tokens on the platform will be enabled for trading over the course of four days. Trading will be fully online by October 27. Shetty stated in a post on X, 

“Your support helped us achieve the impossible task of restarting. Now we have the next step, to create more value for everyone who has been impacted.”

The exchange had announced on Wednesday that INR and crypto deposits were enabled on the platform, along with an updated token balance page. 

Court-Ordered Restructuring 

WazirX suffered one of the largest crypto-related breaches in India. The platform’s relaunch comes after a Singapore High Court-approved restructuring plan under Zettai Pte. Ltd., WazirX’s parent company. The restructuring received nearly unanimous support from the platform’s creditors earlier this year. The restructuring was the final step in restarting the platform, and included months of legal proceedings, forensic audits, and discussions with stakeholders. 

Trading will begin with select markets and include crypto-to-crypto pairs and the USDT/INR market. The platform has also announced a temporary zero-fee trading offer during its restart phase to encourage participation and support liquidity. 

Creditors To Receive Recovery Tokens 

Users who lost access to their funds and assets during the shutdown finally have clarity on the fate of their holdings. WazirX has stated that token distributions will begin alongside the platform’s relaunch. All creditors will receive Recovery Tokens as part of the repayment plans. The Recovery Tokens will help users recover some of the lost value of their assets. WazirX added that it will share more details about the repayment process once trading resumes. Creditors were left in the dark during the platform’s shutdown, and the announcement is the first official communication regarding the timeline for repayments and a resumption of operations. 

Security Partnership With BitGo 

WazirX has introduced several new measures to protect user assets. The platform has partnered with BitGo to overhaul security. BitGo provides insured custody solutions and institutional-grade security for digital assets. The platform’s custody solutions and multi-layered custody system will help WazirX prevent a repeat of the hack. The partnership with BitGo will help WazirX restore user confidence and improve risk-management practices.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.