WazirX Cancels Open Orders to Resolve Indian Rupee and Crypto Balance Issues

Indian crypto exchange WazirX has canceled all outstanding open orders on its platform to address issues regarding Indian rupee and cryptocurrency balances.

“Please note that all open orders currently placed on WazirX will be canceled,” the exchange said in a Wednesday post on X.

“Any INR and crypto assets blocked in these open orders will be added to your respective balances.”

👋 tribe! Please note that all open orders currently placed on WazirX will be canceled. Any INR and crypto assets blocked in these open orders will be added to your respective balances.

This step is part of our ongoing efforts to resolve the issue surrounding INR and crypto… pic.twitter.com/G5zUyB36hN

— WazirX: India Ka Bitcoin Exchange (@WazirXIndia) August 21, 2024

WazirX Loses $230M in Hack

The development comes in the wake of a major security breach in July, during which hackers managed to siphon off significant amounts of digital assets from the exchange.

The breach resulted in the loss of $102 million worth of Shibu Inu tokens, $52 million in Ethereum, and $11.2 million in Polygon’s native token, Matic, among other cryptocurrencies.

Following the hack, WazirX disclosed that the cyber attack targeted one of its multi-signature wallets, which utilized the services of Liminal, a digital asset custody and wallet infrastructure provider.

While it remains uncertain whether the recent order cancellations are directly related to the July security breach, WazirX has affirmed its commitment to resolving all associated issues.

WazirX has positioned itself as one of India’s largest and fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchanges, with a claim of being the most trusted platform for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading in the country.

However, the exchange has faced challenges, including a significant drop in the value of its native token, WRX.

The token has plummeted by 97% from its all-time high of $5.88 in April 2021, as per CoinGecko data.

Meanwhile, the WRX token is trading 1.5% higher on the day. The uptick follows a 25% decline on July 19, around the time of the security breach.

India Trains Authorities on Crypto Forensics

Last year, India revealed that it has offered officials from various cybercrime and police departments training in cryptocurrency forensics and investigation during the financial year 2022–2023.

The training was aimed to equip law enforcement personnel with the necessary skills to combat cryptocurrency-related crimes.

Under the NCB, 141 officers received training specifically focused on darknet investigations, cryptocurrencies, and workshops on digital footprints, intelligence gathering from open sources, and social media analysis.

The training came as a survey conducted by blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs has revealed that 99% of law enforcement needs more training on crypto.

India’s stance on cryptocurrencies has been somewhat ambiguous.

The imposition of strict crypto taxes in 2022 and the crypto market downturn led Indian traders to switch to international exchanges, negatively impacting the local crypto industry.

Trading volumes shifted back to Indian exchanges after the ban on offshore entities, however.

India has made it a priority to achieve global consensus on framing crypto policies as part of its G20 presidency in 2023.

The country successfully obtained agreement from all G20 members on global guidelines.

India faced criticism for pushing for global consensus without having its own legislation in place, however.