WazirX Announces Bounty Program After Significant Cyberattack

In response to a significant cyberattack, WazirX, a leading cryptocurrency exchange in India, has announced the launch of a bounty program to freeze and recover stolen assets.

Several actions were taken immediately

In a post on X, WazirX outlined several immediate actions the exchange has taken. The exchange has filed a complaint with the police and reported the incident to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and CERT-In.

Co-founder Nischal Shetty said the exchange has reached out to over 500 exchanges to block the identified addresses associated with the stolen funds. The cooperation of these exchanges is crucial as the stolen assets are moving across different platforms.

Bonus program has been launched

WazirX is preparing a bounty program to incentivize individuals and entities to help freeze or recover the stolen assets. This program is part of their strategy to increase their efforts in tracking down the stolen funds.

The team is also in talks with several expert groups that specialize in tracking cryptocurrency transactions. These experts will provide continuous monitoring and support in the recovery process.

WazirX expressed gratitude for the support of the broader Web3 ecosystem and emphasized the need for a collective effort to solve the problem and maintain the ethos of Web3 communities.

Analyzing data

Shetty noted that the team is currently analyzing data to understand the extent of the damage caused by the attack. This analysis is crucial to formulating an effective recovery plan and ensuring that all possible measures are taken to address the impact on customer funds.

In addition to their internal efforts, WazirX is working with forensic experts and law enforcement agencies to identify and apprehend the perpetrators. This collaboration is aimed at ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to justice and that the stolen assets are recovered to the greatest extent possible.

The WazirX breach resulted in a significant loss of approximately $235 million, making it the second-largest hack of a centralized exchange in recent times, only surpassed by the DMM exploit on May 31, which resulted in a loss of $305 million.

Crypto researcher ZachXBT revealed in a Telegram post that the alleged lead attacker’s wallet still contains over $104 million in funds that have yet to be drained.