In a sudden and alarming development in the Indian cryptocurrency market, WazirX, the country’s largest digital asset exchange, has temporarily suspended its trading services following a recent hacking incident the platform faced the previous week. The move was necessary in response to the hack of the exchange, which has a large user base and is critical to the development of the country’s cryptocurrency industry.
WazirX Suspends Cryptocurrency Trading Services
Last week, India-based cryptocurrency exchange WazirX became the latest victim of a cyberattack, which sparked a major debate within the crypto community. The incident is reportedly linked to the notorious North Korean hackers known as Lazare Group.
According to the exchange, the hackers targeted one of its multi-signature wallets, resulting in the loss of millions of digital assets. Data from on-chain tracker Cyvers Alerts revealed that the criminals stole over $235 million involving major digital assets such as Shiba InuEthereum, PEPE and GALA, among others. However, the exchange acted quickly to protect its users’ funds by halting its trading activities following the breach, raising major concerns about the security of digital assets on the platform.
WazirX noted that the cyber attack The theft had affected the platform’s ability to maintain its 1:1 collateral with assets, so trading services were suspended to prevent further damage. It is worth noting that the team also suspended withdrawals last week after the platform was attacked in order to protect its users’ funds. “Our team is actively investigating the incident. To ensure the safety of your assets, withdrawals in INR and cryptocurrencies will be temporarily suspended,” the team said.
Although the team has temporarily suspended trading services and withdrawals on the platform, it has stressed its commitment to conducting thorough forensic data reviews and security audit procedures to facilitate withdrawals quickly.
In the meantime, the platform intends to return customer assets, recover stolen funds, and conduct a more thorough investigation into the cyberattack. Thus, the crypto platform has filed a complaint with the police, contacted more than 500 exchanges to block the hacker’s address, and launched a bounty program to recover stolen assets.
Fake Repayment Plan Email Sent by Cybercriminals
WazirX The suspension of cryptocurrency trading comes after receiving multiple complaints from its users regarding a Fraudulent email from imposters, implying that they would reimburse victims for their stolen funds through an airdrop strategy.
The fraudulent emails indicate that criminals continue to actively target WazirX users. Therefore, the team urged users to remain vigilant in times like these as criminals may devise new ways to target users while aggressively tracking and addressing these fraudulent operations.
Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
