WazirX
Summary
WazirX is an Indian cryptocurrency exchange co-founded in 2018 by Nischal Shetty, Sameer Mhatre, and Siddharth Menon that suffered the largest crypto hack in Indian history on July 18, 2024, when approximately $234.9 million in user assets were stolen from a Gnosis Safe multisig wallet via a sophisticated supply-chain-style attack attributed by Elliptic, ZachXBT, and a joint US-Japan-South Korea government statement to North Korea's Lazarus Group. The hack triggered suspension of all withdrawals, a Singapore court-supervised restructuring process in which users are expected to recover approximately 55% of their assets, and ongoing regulatory and law enforcement scrutiny in India.
Connected Entities
1 entities- + 8 more
Timeline(21 events)
2018-03-01
WazirX co-founded by Nischal Shetty, Sameer Mhatre, and Siddharth Menon in Mumbai, India.
CNBC2019-11-01
Binance announces acquisition of WazirX; Binance later denies the acquisition was completed, initiating a prolonged public dispute.
Cryptopolitan2021-06-11
India's Enforcement Directorate issues show-cause notice to WazirX and directors Nischal Shetty and Sameer Mhatre alleging FEMA violations related to Rs 2,790 crore in transactions tied to an online betting fraud money-laundering probe.
Business Standard2022-08-01
India's Enforcement Directorate issues a second FEMA Show Cause Notice to WazirX regarding Rs 2,790 crore in alleged outward remittances.
Business Standard2024-07-10
Attacker deploys malicious smart contract on Ethereum and funds preparation wallet via Tornado Cash (six 0.1 ETH transactions), eight days before the attack.
Halborn Security / Crystal Intelligence2024-07-18
$234.9 million stolen from WazirX Gnosis Safe multisig wallet via malicious smart contract substitution. Liminal Custody interface manipulation caused four signatories (three WazirX, one Liminal) to approve the exploit transaction.
Wikipedia / CoinDesk2024-07-18
ZachXBT publishes on-chain analysis on X identifying attack characteristics consistent with Lazarus Group operations.
The Daily Hodl2024-07-18
Elliptic issues statement attributing the WazirX hack to North Korea-affiliated hackers based on on-chain analysis.
The Block2024-07-19
WazirX and Liminal Custody publicly blame each other for the breach. WazirX files FIR with New Delhi Police Special Cell and engages CERT-IN.
CoinDesk2024-08-14
Mandiant publishes forensic report attributing the breach to Liminal Custody's systems. Liminal disputes findings and commissions Grant Thornton for an independent review.
Wikipedia / CoinDesk2024-08-14
WazirX terminates custody relationship with Liminal and begins migrating remaining assets to new multi-sig wallets with institutional custodians.
CoinDesk2024-09-03
WazirX exploiter begins laundering stolen ETH through Tornado Cash, initially moving approximately $4 million across 16 transactions.
CoinDesk2024-09-09
WazirX exploiter moves additional $11 million in stolen ETH to Tornado Cash. Exploiter transfers 20,004 ETH across four wallets, draining each in 100 ETH batches to Tornado Cash.
CoinDesk2024-09-18
Binance publishes public statement denying any ownership, control, or operation of WazirX at any time, accusing Shetty of misleading users.
BanklessTimes2025-01-14
US, Japan, and South Korea issue formal joint statement through the US Department of State explicitly attributing the $235M WazirX hack to North Korea's Lazarus Group, within a broader $659M in 2024 DPRK cryptocurrency thefts.
US Department of State2025-04-08
93.1% of voting creditors (by count) and 94.6% by value approve WazirX's initial Scheme of Arrangement restructuring plan.
CoinDesk2025-06-05
Singapore High Court declines to approve the initial restructuring plan, citing concerns over transparency including undisclosed incorporation of Zensui Corporation in Panama.
CoinDesk2025-08-18
Revised restructuring plan receives 95.7% creditor approval (by number) in second vote following court-ordered amendments.
crypto.news2025-10-13
Singapore High Court sanctions the revised WazirX restructuring scheme. Users expected to recover approximately 55% of asset value via crypto distributions and Recovery Tokens.
Cointelegraph2025-10-24
WazirX resumes exchange operations following Singapore court approval, with custody migrated to institutional providers including BitGo.
Wikipedia2025-10-27
Indian court halts WazirX's proposed XRP reallocation plan, adding further legal complexity to user fund recovery.
CoinDeskDecision Log
- hash: AWgNEL74AMGdS1j6FzccGGGn9R1wMaHiJNqocAgVcrJL
- hash: F9srQHepoed3kkVd2XEwH8DbHGu5gR6xgG95YKhVjVez
- hash: 8hCQnvaRywBQd1PbCfQsonn28x3EoKGMskpjAN8tkAhY
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-sonnet
generated: 5/4/2026, 4:04:58 PM
last updated: 6/15/2026, 7:41:24 PM
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