Delhi Police Arrests Man In Connection With Rs 2,000-crore Crypto Heist On WazirX

New Delhi: Delhi Police’s Special Cell arrested an accused in connection with cyberattack on cryptocurrency exchange firm, WazirX on Wednesday. cyberattack resulted in ft of digital assets worth approximately Rs 2,000 crore. 

accused identified as SK Masud Alam, was a resident of West Bengal, and is accused of facilitating cyberattack by setting up a fake account used to breach WazirX's platform.

According to a chargesheet filed by Delhi Police, Alam created an account on WazirX under alias Souvik Mondal and n sold account to ar individual, identified as M Hasan, through messaging platform Telegram. Hasan is believed to have used account to access exchange and carry out attack, which led to loss of a large sum of digital assets. 

investigation, led by Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) division, found out that cybercriminals allegedly drained exchange's hot wallet, which is used to store funds for quick access, and me an unsuccessful attempt to breach cold wallet — a more secure stor option for digital assets kept offline. 

police’s probe also reveals complications stemming from WazirX’s partner, Liminal Custody, a digital asset custody solutions firm responsible for securing exchange's wallets. 

Despite multiple tices from authorities, Liminal failed to cooperate, withholding crucial information needed to trace perpetrators behind heist. chargesheet tes that this lack of cooperation from Liminal Custody significantly hampered investigation, and firm's role in breach will be furr dressed in a supplementary chargesheet.

In dition to Alam's arrest, investigators seized three laptops from WazirX, which were used by authorised signatories to approve transactions. se laptops are central to investigation into misuse of multi-signature wallets, which require multiple keys to authorise a transaction. police have found evidence of unauthorised access to WazirX’s internal systems, eir locally or remotely.

cyberattack, which occurred on July 18, 2024, saw ft of over $230 million (around Rs 2,000 crore) in digital assets from WazirX. breach involved a multi-sig wallet with six signatories — five from WazirX and one from Liminal Custody. attack resulted in loss of nearly 45 percent of exchange's holding assets, triggering widespre concern in cryptocurrency community.

WazirX, one of India's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has cooperated fully with authorities during investigation, providing critical data such as Kw Your Customer (KYC) details and transaction logs. 

exchange, launched in 2018, facilitates buying, selling, and tring of various cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ereum, and ors, and is integrated with Binance, a global cryptocurrency exchange.