India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Wazir X, has suffered a major security breach resulting in the theft of over $230 million in digital assets. Minister X Early European hours on Thursday (July 18) saw a pullback as a security breach affected one of its wallets, causing the loss of user funds. WazirX, which calls itself ‘India’s Bitcoin Exchange’, confirmed the breach in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. It is said to be one of the few Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) registered exchanges in the country, allowing it to offer crypto exchange services to Indian citizens.
“We are aware that one of our multi-seg wallets has suffered a security breach. Our team is actively investigating the incident. To ensure the safety of your assets, INR and crypto withdrawals will be temporarily suspended. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We will keep you posted with further updates,” the company’s post on X reads.

Who could be behind the big hack?
According to a report by Coindesk, blockchain sleuth Elliptic, hackers linked to North Korea are behind the attack. “Transaction data shows that the exploiter is actively selling stolen holdings using the onchain exchange Uniswap. The exploiter has not yet sold his ETH holdings, and FLOKI holds more than $4.2 million in tokens,” the report said.
Initial reports suggest that hackers exploited a vulnerability in WazirX’s systems to steal a significant amount of cryptocurrency, including a significant portion of the Shiba Inu (SHIB) token. The stolen funds have drastically reduced the value of Minister X’s native token, WRX.
This high-profile hack highlights the dangers associated with cryptocurrency trading and highlights the need for stronger security measures in the industry.
The hack comes at a time when the Indian government is investigating the cryptocurrency industry and considering stricter regulations.