Gairika Mitra
Indian crypto trading platform WazirX offered a $23 million bounty in order to get a hold of the stolen assets valued at $234 million.
Nischal Shetty, co-founder of WazirX, recently announced that the amount was set as part of the exchange’s “bounty program”. This initiative, which was originally set at $11.5 million, is designed to recover the $234 million assets which were stolen in the recent hacker attack.
“The total bounty has been updated to $23M thanks @zachxbt for the suggestion,” Shetty said.
In a post on X, WazirX announced the details of the bounty program to recover the stolen assets. “In response to the recent cyber attack on one of our multisig wallets, we’re announcing a Bounty Program to recover the stolen assets.”
Within a period of 24 hours, the platform received over 80 intents for its bounty program. A WazirX spokesperson shared this post with The Shib Daily when asked about the current scenario. Currently, they stand at 133 as of 1.04 pm EST.
Shetty also acknowledged the white hacker community helping the exchange with the recovery of the stolen assets. His latest post talks about figuring out various directions “that can possibly help enable the platform deposits/withdrawals/trading.”
WazirX mentioned that they have been actively looking out for “enabling withdrawals for our users.” The company has provided a day-wise report on actions they took to keep their community abreast of the actions they have taken since the cyberattack.
Some followers of WazirX expressed their optimism, while there were others who expressed scepticism. A user with the X handle @MirzaSir007 commented, “Hi WazirX, wasn’t our funds insured in case of hacking, as advertised by WazirX on the website? Funds were insured, right?”
Others have tagged other major exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, and Robinhood, and crypto figures Changpeng Zhao (popularly known as CZ), Vitalik Buterin, and Shytoshi Kusama on X, asking them to extend their help and support the Indian crypto community.
The Shib Daily reported that just hours after the WazirX security breach, the price of the popular dog-themed altcoin Shiba Inu (SHIB) plunged by 7.3% as of 8.30 a.m. EST on Thursday. This significant drop was likely due to the hacker offloading the stolen SHIB tokens.
Subsequent transactional data revealed that the hacker was selling the stolen cryptocurrencies on the Uniswap on-chain exchange. From October 2022 to March 2023, WazirX blacklisted over 2,431 accounts for unlawful activities.
DaVinci, the admin of Shibaium communications channels (on telegram and Discord), told The Shib Daily that this incident really shows how crucial good security is in the crypto world. He added that people need to make sure their investments are safe.
“One of the best ways to protect your assets is by keeping them in your own wallet and managing your private keys. This way, you’re less likely to lose money if an exchange gets hacked. Using decentralized finance – DeFi – platforms is another great option because they let you handle your transactions without relying on a single company. Remember, exchanges should be used mainly for trading, not for long-term storage of your crypto. This helps reduce the risks that come with centralized exchanges.”
It’s unlikely to retrieve the stolen tokens, he believed unless WazirX negotiates with the hackers. He hoped that WazirX would recover all the SHIB and do justice to the SHIB holders. Going forward, he urged people to wake up and always prioritize security of their funds.
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Gairika holds positions in BTC. This article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The Shib Magazine and The Shib Daily are the official media and publications of the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency project. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
