Key Points
- Indian crypto exchange WazirX experienced a significant hack, resulting in a steep price drop for Bitcoin, Shiba Inu, and other altcoins.
- North Korean hackers from the Lazarus Group are suspected to be behind the attack.
After a substantial security breach at Indian crypto exchange WazirX, the value of stolen altcoins such as Shiba Inu plummeted dramatically.
In addition, Bitcoin and other altcoins were also trading at a significant discount on the platform on Friday, July 19.
Impact of the Hack
On that day, almost all tokens on WazirX were trading at a significant discount compared to their global prices, indicating intense selling pressure and poor liquidity on the exchange.
The Bitcoin/Rupee trading pair dropped 22% within 24 hours, a much steeper decline than on other local exchanges such as CoinDCX and Zebpay, where prices fell by only 2%.
The Shiba Inu/Rupee pair also saw a decline of 30%, and WazirX’s WRX token fell 40% within 24 hours.
Despite these losses, trading volumes on the exchange surged to $8 million, up from $2.2 million on Wednesday.
WazirX suffered a significant security breach in one of its multisig wallets, resulting in the theft of more than $200 million worth of funds from the exchange.
The hacker stole more than $100 million worth of Shiba Inu and almost $52 million worth of Ethereum.
On-chain data indicates that WazirX converted many of these altcoins to Ethereum shortly before the scheduled ETF launch.
Behind the Hack
Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reports that North Korean hackers from the notorious Lazarus Group are suspected to be behind this hack.
Another analyst, ZachXBT, noted the potential markings of a Lazarus Group attack in the WazirX hack.
According to an investigation by ZachXBT, the stolen assets were moved to an address funded by Tornado Cash, a service commonly used to obscure the origins of cryptocurrency funds, following the hack.
