Indian Exchange WazirX Suffers Major Hack
A large number of 235 million US dollars was withdrawn in a major security violation at WazirX which is a company dealing with various virtual currencies. WazirX was attacked through its multi-signature wallet to illegally move various virtual currencies mainly such as Shiba Inu (SHIB), Pepe Coin (PEPE), Ethereum (ETH) and Polygon (MATIC). Over 5 trillion SHIB tokens moved without permission were recorded to be the biggest amount among the unauthorized transactions.
Funds Transferred to Unknown Wallet
Lookonchain, a blockchain tracking platform, reports that an unknown wallet, 0x04b2, received the stolen funds. It then rapidly sold much of the loot, e.g., 640.27 billion PEPE tokens ($7.6M) and 20.5 million MATIC tokens ($11.2M). Converting it into Ethereum made people worry if they could still be traced.
Is WazirX Safe?
WazirX paused all withdrawals save for INR and crypto after the breach happened so as to protect the remaining user funds. Users were reassured by the exchange in an official communication that their money was safe but this occurrence reverberates with regard to the security readiness of this site.
The hacker used Tornado Cash, which is a decentralized protocol for private transactions that prevents tracking and retrieval of individual funds. This case highlights problems in the realm of decentralized Finance (DEFIS) and hence places a greater premium on increased regulatory oversight to avoid the repeat of such instances in future.
For more such informative updates, head on to ReadingCrypto!
