Stock exchange suspends trading to develop exit plan

Just hours after announcing its $23 million bounty program to recover stolen funds, Indian crypto exchange WazirX announced that it would temporarily suspend trading on the platform while it conducts a forensic data investigation.

WazirX trading paused, investors panicking?

Following the announcement of the WazirX bounty program, the crypto exchange announced that the recent cyberattack has affected their ability to maintain 1:1 collateral with assets, which is why they have decided to temporarily halt trading.

The Indian crypto exchange stated that it is conducting forensic data investigations as well as security audits to enable withdrawals very soon.

📢 Trading has been temporarily suspended

The theft from the cyberattack has impacted our ability to maintain 1:1 collateral on assets and we have temporarily suspended trading.

We conduct thorough forensic data investigations and security audit procedures and work to enable…

— WazirX: India Ka Bitcoin Exchange (@WazirXIndia) July 21, 2024

WazirX founder Nischal Shetty said they would work to find the best way to allow withdrawals. “We first need to analyze all the data to come up with an action plan on what is the right formula to allow withdrawals since some of the assets have been stolen,” he said.

He also acknowledged that the road to full recovery will be longer from now on. “Please be patient with us as we work towards that,” Shetty said.

Also read: WazirX Hack Update: Will Investors Get Their Money Back?

Fueling trading volume

Trading volumes on the Indian crypto exchange had already plummeted the day after the $230 million crypto hack. Last Friday, July 19, Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies were trading on WazirX at a significant discount compared to trading on other local crypto exchanges like CoinCDX, etc. This shows that low trading volumes and liquidity shortages are affecting existing investors.

Last weekend, the Indian crypto exchange also faced a large number of phishing attacks in which hackers exploited the security flaw. Sumit Gupta, CEO of CoinDCX, issued a strong warning to the crypto community about fake compensation emails that falsely claim to be from WazirX. These fraudulent emails imitate official communications but are designed to trick users into revealing confidential information or clicking on malicious links.

Also read: How the WazirX hack affects crypto market prices