Wazirx.com Unapproved

WazirX.com. I approached this investigation as a reporter would: start with the paper trail, verify what’s current, and separate established facts from claims. What emerges is an exchange that suffered a catastrophic breach, faces ongoing legal and governance uncertainty, and remains effectively frozen for users awaiting court-driven recovery steps.

The enforcement record is real and documented. In August 2022, India’s Enforcement Directorate searched a WazirX director and froze ₹64.67 crore, alleging lax AML controls in lending-linked flows. Within weeks, ED unfroze accounts after receiving information from the company—relief, but not a clean bill of health. The episode shows regulators treating the platform as a high-risk venue even before the later hack.

The July 18, 2024 security incident is the defining event. Roughly $230–235 million—about half of on-platform assets—were drained from a main wallet; withdrawals were halted. WazirX later said it would restore account balances and roll back trades around the freeze, but users remained unable to withdraw. As of late September 2025, third-party coverage still reports trading and withdrawals closed pending court approvals. That is a sustained user-impact risk.

Attribution of the heist is still an intelligence assessment, not an adjudicated fact. Major outlets and investigators have linked the operation to North Korea’s Lazarus apparatus; Delhi Police opened a case and courts have even suggested central-agency takeover given the sophistication and possible state actor involvement. Most recently, a Delhi High Court order sought a fresh probe into the hack. These are indicators of scale and complexity; attribution in cyber cases remains probabilistic until tried.

Governance and ownership clarity are recurring red flags. In 2019, Binance publicly announced it had “acquired” WazirX; in August 2022 Binance edited that post to say it never bought equity in the Indian operating entity. Meanwhile, a WazirX support page still declares “WazirX Gets Successfully Acquired By Binance,” creating contradictory public records. For users, this muddle matters because it obscures who ultimately controls key systems and liabilities.

Regulatory posture is mixed. On the plus side, WazirX’s Indian operator, Zanmai Labs, is on the government’s list of FIU-registered VDA providers, signaling engagement with India’s AML regime. By contrast, Binance—often conflated with WazirX—paid an FIU-IND penalty in June 2024 for operating unregistered in India. The distinction underscores why the ownership dispute is not academic: compliance responsibilities hinge on which entity is actually running what.

User remediation is being pushed through Singapore courts under the parent structure (Zettai). The Singapore High Court initially rejected WazirX’s restructuring plan on June 5, 2025, citing disclosure concerns; later, it set that aside and allowed a revote with protections extended. In August 2025, WazirX announced a revote win with ~95.7% creditor approval, and said the court extended the moratorium to 16 September 2025—yet distributions and relaunch still await final judicial sign-off.

Communication to customers has been uneven and sometimes confusing. Media reported phased resumption of INR withdrawals in 2024–25; other trackers note users still cannot withdraw as of late September 2025. WazirX’s own blog updates emphasize that posts “may be amended at any time,” which—while common legal boilerplate—does little to reassure creditors looking for fixed commitments and dates.

Market-conduct signals deserve mention. In September 2022, amid its public spat with Binance over ownership, WazirX followed Binance’s controversial move to auto-convert several stablecoins into BUSD and delist competing stablecoins. That alignment—during a time of governance ambiguity—raised fair questions about whose strategic decisions were shaping the Indian platform’s listings and liquidity.

On censorship or takedowns, I did not find clear evidence of WazirX removing critical posts; what is observable is post-fact editing by Binance to recast the 2019 “acquisition” language, and WazirX retaining a conflicting “acquisition” page in its own help center. In an industry where custody and liability hinge on corporate control, such contradictory records function as a form of narrative control—even absent outright takedowns. That tension remains material.

In sum, WazirX presents high ongoing risk: a confirmed nine-figure breach, frozen operations pending court sign-off, unsettled governance narratives, and an extended timeline to any resumption. Balanced against that are demonstrable regulator engagement in India (FIU registration) and creditor-led legal processes that could, in time, enable distributions. My practical take: treat WazirX as a distressed platform. Avoid depositing new funds; monitor the Singapore proceedings and any court-approved payout mechanisms; verify FIU registrations directly; and, when the time comes, withdraw via official channels promptly. For future crypto exposure, favor venues with unambiguous ownership, current SOC/ISO attestations, jurisdictional licensing, and live proof-of-reserves—while keeping significant balances in self-custody with hardware-wallet hygiene.