WazirX Plans To Resume Trading, Launch New Decentralised Exchange

Hacked crypto exchange WazirX is planning to resume trading on its platform as part of its plan to make its users whole after a cyberattack wiped off nearly $230 Mn in digital assets from one of its multisig wallets.

For resuming trading, WazirX is pursuing a Singapore scheme of arrangement, the company said in a media townhall on Wednesday (November 6).

The proposed scheme aims to offer liquidity and additional recoveries to WazirX users through rebalancing and tokenisation. As part of the plan, WazirX will release liquid assets worth $284 Mn and issue recovery tokens to all its users upon approval and sanction of the scheme.

WazirX said it plans to implement the scheme as quickly as possible but did not specify an exact timeline for trade reopening on the platform.

The portion of the scheme debt that cannot be settled by liquid assets held by WazirX will be released in the form of recovery tokens and AirDropped into users’ WazirX wallets.

Meanwhile, Zettai Pte Ltd, the parent entity of Zanmai Labs which operates WazirX, is launching a new decentralised exchange (DEX) to initiate recoveries. The company plans to launch features such as crypto staking and futures trading on the upcoming platform.

The development comes days after WazirX said it would set up a committee of creditors to advise it on its restructuring plan. Notably, a Singapore court has granted WazirX a four-month conditional moratorium to restructure its liabilities. 

In the past, legal advisors to WazirX said that customers were likely to get back only 55-57% of their funds even after the restructuring.

In July, WazirX was hit by a security breach, which resulted in loss of $230 Mn worth digital assets. 

WazirX founder Nischal Shetty blamed custody wallet platform Liminal for security lapses. Later, he said Binance held a majority of Zettai Labs’ funds. However, both Liminal and Binance rejected these claims. 

It is pertinent to note that multiple government agencies — including the Financial Intelligence Unit, Intelligence Bureau and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) — have launched a probe into the WazirX hack.

More recently, Ashish Singhal, cofounder of CoinSwitch, accused WazirX of transferring over $73 Mn in crypto assets to other exchanges following the heist.