WazirX, a leading cryptocurrency exchange in India, has reportedly suffered a potential security breach, which has resulted in losses of over $230 million.
Cyvers Alerts, a blockchain security firm that initially reported the attack, believes that the threat actors targeted the exchange’s Safe Multisig wallet by compromising the private keys used to upgrade it.
For those unaware, a Multi-signature Wallet (multisig) is a cryptocurrency wallet that requires multiple private keys for transaction authorization and completion.
The attackers then transferred 234.9 million worth of stolen crypto assets to a new address labeled “0x04b2” and converted them into Ethereum (ETH).
Each transaction’s caller is reportedly funded from accounts by TornadoCash, a fully decentralized protocol for private transactions on Ethereum, which makes the tracing of funds and the identification of involved parties more difficult.
Cyvers Alerts alleges that the stolen assets, such as $PEPE, $GALA, and $USDT, were swiftly converted into Ethereum ($ETH) and other digital assets.
The security company claims to have attempted contacting the exchange 30 minutes prior to issuing the information on X but received no response.
WazirX has acknowledged the security breach and is actively investigating it.
As a preventive measure, it has temporarily paused all INR and crypto withdrawals on the exchange.
“We’re aware that one of our multisig wallets has experienced a security breach. Our team is actively investigating the incident.
To ensure the safety of your assets, INR and crypto withdrawals will be temporarily paused. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
We’ll keep you posted with further updates,” WazirX confirmed in a post on X.
? Update: We're aware that one of our multisig wallets has experienced a security breach. Our team is actively investigating the incident. To ensure the safety of your assets, INR and crypto withdrawals will be temporarily paused. Thank you for your patience and understanding.…
— WazirX: India Ka Bitcoin Exchange (@WazirXIndia) July 18, 2024
The compromised wallet is continuing to dump the stolen assets actively.
The attacker has already deposited almost 640.27 billion PEPE tokens, valued at approximately $7.6 million, and still has over $100 million worth of Shiba inu (SHIB) tokens and more than $4.7 million FLOKI to sell (via Lookonchain).
Since WazirX is still investigating the incident, users are recommended to stay vigilant and monitor their accounts for suspicious activity, as well as enable two-factor authentication and other security features to ensure the safety of their assets.
Keep watching this space for more updates, as this is a developing story!
