WazirX releases Proof of Reserves post $230 mn hack, total assets plunge over 40%

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Hacked crypto exchange WazirX on October 25 released its first Proof of Reserves (POR) since the $230-million cyber attack in in July. Total assets have plunged by over 40.37 percent due to the theft.

As of October 24, total assets including funds held on-chain, with third party exchanges and illiquid assets added up to $298.17 million (Rs 2,506.79 crore). Illiquid assets worth $14.25 million refers to the funds frozen for the time being for investigation purposes.

Total assets held on-chain stood at $157.01 million and those held with third party exchanges added up to $126.91 million. These funds were held across 242,000 wallets.

WazirX had last reported its POR in June when the total holdings stood at Rs 4,203.88 crore ($ 503.64 million), that was a significant 79 percent surge compared to the data shared in January 2023.

CoinSwitch had earlier claimed that WazirX had transferred $72.13 million worth of crypto to Bybit and $1.5 million to KuCoin.

“Understanding the value of third-party verification, we're also working with CoinGabbar, a renowned third-party platform, to provide a dynamically updated PoR. This dual approach reinforces trust and transparency by offering both internal and third-party PoR,” the exchange said in a statement.

WazirX added, “This makes us the only exchange in India to have a dual POR dashboard: an internal POR dashboard and a third-party dynamic PoR dashboard. We’re working on setting new industry standards when it comes to transparency.”

WazirX lost nearly 45 percent of its crypto assets holdings in a security breach in one of its multisig wallets in July, that amounted to over $230 million.

Last month, a Singapore Court granted WazirX a four-month conditional moratorium that will help it restructure its business without getting more legal notices from affected parties.

WazirX also discontinued its wallet custody partner Liminal and is in a lookout for new custodian, the exchange said.

“We’re trying to find a custody provider who can offer insurance for the funds so that loss is minimized, even in worst-case scenarios. While security is paramount, in this dynamic and new world of crypto, insurance will start playing an even more important role in custody services,” the exchange said.

Earlier this week, rival CoinSwitch released its POR. According to its POR, the INR equivalent value of the total holdings of CoinSwitch, including crypto and INR balance, is Rs 2,514.91 crore. User holdings, including crypto and INR, with CoinSwitch, stands at Rs 1,952.81 crore. The platform has over 2 crore users.