WazirX Set to Restart Trading After Year-Long $235 Million Hack
The Relaunch:
WazirX (whose parent company is Singapore-registered Zettai Pte Ltd) announced it would restart its cryptocurrency trading operations on October 24, 2025, after being shut down for approximately 15 to 16 months following a massive security breach.
The resumption of operations follows the successful approval of its restructuring plan by the Singapore High Court.
The Hack and Fallout:
The Incident: The exchange halted operations in mid-2024 after a security breach in July 2024 that resulted in the loss of approximately $230 million to $235 million in digital assets, reportedly from its multi-signature wallet. This loss amounted to nearly half of the platform's holdings at the time.
Attribution: The cyberattack was later attributed to the notorious North Korean hacking group, Lazarus Group, a claim backed by joint statements from the United States, Japan, and South Korea.
Restructuring: Following the hack, WazirX initiated a court-led restructuring process in Singapore to manage its liabilities and compensate affected users. The revised restructuring scheme received overwhelming support, with over 95% of creditors by both number and claim value approving the plan.
Key Components of the Relaunch & Restructuring Plan:
Trading Fees: To encourage users to return and reactivate their accounts, WazirX is offering zero trading fees across all trading pairs, beginning with select crypto-to-crypto pairs and the USDT/INR (Tether-to-Indian Rupee) market.
Asset Security: The company has partnered with BitGo, a leading digital asset custodian, to provide institutional-grade, insured custody solutions for its digital assets, significantly enhancing its security framework to prevent future breaches.
User Fund Recovery: As part of the approved plan, WazirX is expected to return a significant portion of user balances (some reports indicate around 85% of user balances as of the hack date, with the remainder planned for distribution over the next three years from profits and recoveries).
Recovery Tokens: The plan also includes the issuance of Recovery Tokens (RTs) to impacted creditors, offering them a share in future revenue and recovered assets.
Phased Relaunch: The platform operations will resume in a phased manner, with initial trading pairs going live first, followed by a gradual expansion of additional markets, deposits, withdrawals, and fiat conversions.
New Focus: Under the new structure, WazirX is focused on three main areas: exchange operations, custody management, and regulatory compliance in various markets.
The restart marks an attempt by WazirX to regain the trust of its over 16 million users and re-establish its position in the Indian cryptocurrency market, which saw other exchanges fill the void during its suspension.