WazirX Users Must Decide: New Plan or Wait Until 2030

February 4, 2025 - 2 min. read

By Yagyesh Jaiswal

WazirX fund recovery decision

WazirX is India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and has thrown users into a dilemma after getting hacked for $235 million. Now, users have to either go with the new recovery plan or wait until 2030 to get their investments back after losing quite a number of assets to cyber criminals.

WazirX Recovery Plan
WazirX Recovery Options Explained

Recovery Plan Overview

The approval of the proposal will need at least 75% user voting. It stipulates the restart of WazirX operations from April 2025 onwards in case it gets passed. This also proposes recovery tokens tradable by users. 

The initial payout would take place within ten business days of passing this proposal. The said recovery token will also be further backed by regular buybacks, funded from profits and new revenue streams generated by the exchange itself.

Otherwise, if it is rejected, liquidation through the Singapore Companies Act would ensue for WazirX. That way, further possibilities arise, and there may be a fire sale of its assets thereby further reducing the compensation figure for users.

Community Reaction

The revised plan for recovery kept drawing flak from the Indian crypto community. WazirX has been accused by users as having arm-twisted them with its new recovery plan into doing something only by pointing out that it’s a long process. 

Critics say it’s no solution at all, but rather a WazirX design to gain from the crisis. Others asked where the rest of the money is being spent, with some users accusing the money that should have gone toward reimbursing them of going to legal fees.

Aftermath of the Hack

WazirX was hacked by the Lazarus North Korean group in July 2024, where over $230 million of users’ funds were stolen. The hackers used Tornado Cash to cover transactions. The exchange has ceased operations to set things right while attempting to solve after becoming aware of the hacking incident. The process is now linked with a new business venture instead of offering direct refunds.

This now forces WazirX users to make a serious choice either to opt for a new recovery plan or to wait until the year 2030 with a very serious implication on financial security. Users are still divided as a vote now just weeks away reverberates into larger concerns over the integrity of crypto exchanges amid threats to cybersecurity.

Yagyesh Jaiswal

Yagyesh is a crypto geek and a blockchain educator. Started his crypto journey in 2018...

Yagyesh Jaiswal