Cryptocurrency Market Update post WazirX Exchange Hack

Cryptocurrency Market Update After WazirX Exchange Hack

Following a malicious attack on Indian exchange WazirX, several cryptocurrencies have experienced significant losses in their market values. The hack, which occurred early Thursday, resulted in the theft of approximately 50% of the exchange’s reserves, prompting WazirX to temporarily pause withdrawals.

WazirX’s native token, WRX, is currently trading 15% lower at just over 14 cents, according to Coingecko data. The rupee-denominated price has dropped by more than 25% since the hack was confirmed. The attacker managed to steal $230 million in customer funds, including $100 million in shiba inu (SHIB), $52 million in ether (ETH), $11 million in MATIC, and $6 million in PEPE.

Following the hack, SHIB has witnessed a decrease of over 6% in market value in U.S. dollar terms and is trading 16% lower in rupee terms amid reports of the attacker liquidating the stolen coins. Blockchain data suggests that the hacker is selling off SHIB, putting pressure on its market value.

Other tokens on the exchange have maintained relative stability in dollar terms but have suffered significant losses in their INR pairs. Notably, the bitcoin-rupee (BTC/INR) pair has seen a decline of 11% to 5.1 million rupees ($60,945) on WazirX, trading at a considerable discount compared to prices on rival exchange CoinDCX, where BTC is priced at 5.7 million rupees.

Meanwhile, the USDT-INR pair (USDT) on WazirX has slipped by 8%. The discounts observed in BTC, USDT, and other cryptocurrencies on WazirX likely indicate panic selling by investors and a rush for fiat currency in response to the hack.