Key Insights
- WazirX will restart trading on Oct. 24, 16 months after a $230 million Lazarus Group hack forced a shutdown.
- Singapore’s High Court approved its restructuring plan backed by over 95% of creditors.
- Relaunch includes phased token activation, BitGo partnership, and recovery-token plan for hacked users.
MUMBAI, (MarketsXplora)- Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX will resume trading on Friday, ending a 16-month shutdown triggered by one of the largest crypto heists in the country, after North Korea’s Lazarus Group siphoned more than $230 million from the platform.
Co-founder Nischal Shetty confirmed on X that trading will reopen on Oct. 24, with tokens re-enabled in phases across four days and full activation set for Oct. 27. In a blog post earlier on Wednesday, the company also said that Indian rupee and crypto deposits had been restored and token balance pages refreshed.
Your support helped us achieve the impossible task of restarting,” Shetty wrote. “Now we have next step, to create more value for everyone who has been impacted.
WazirX Resumes Following Singapore Court Approval
The return follows a sanction order last week from the Singapore High Court approving WazirX operator Zettai Pte. Ltd.’s revised restructuring plan, which had secured backing from 95.7% of participating creditors by number and 94.6% by value in an August re-vote. The decision cleared the legal path for operations to resume, with Shetty stating that the platform would restart within ten business days of the scheme’s implementation. This timeline points to a full relaunch before the end of October.
WazirX, once India’s largest crypto exchange, halted all trading in July 2024 after Lazarus Group exploited a vulnerability in its multisignature custody setup, draining more than $230 million. The platform attributed the breach to its custody provider Liminal, which denied responsibility and pointed back to internal weaknesses at WazirX. The attacker subsequently laundered the stolen assets through Tornado Cash, complicating recovery attempts and dampening hopes of a full restitution.
Read also, Indian Court Bars WazirX From Using User’s XRP to Cover $230 mln Hack Losses
BitGo custody plus recovery-token plans aim to restore confidence
Under the restructuring plan, affected users are expected to regain access and begin receiving initial distributions shortly after operations resume. To restore confidence, WazirX will partner with U.S. custodian BitGo to bolster asset protection in advance of the relaunch, aligning with tighter security and regulatory expectations.
The platform’s refund strategy also includes launching a decentralized exchange, issuing tradeable recovery tokens, and running a periodic buyback of those tokens using profits generated from revived operations and new revenue streams — a model designed to share upside from a potential turnaround with those impacted by the hack.
Shetty cast the restart as a rare court-overseen resurrection in crypto markets: “As soon as the scheme is legally effective, we will restart platform operations within 10 business days.”