Over 90% of WazirX creditors support post-hack restructuring plan

More than 90% of the voting creditors of the Indian crypto exchange WazirX voted in favor of the platform’s post-hack restructuring plan.

According to an April 7 announcement, 93.1% of voting creditors who hold 94.6% of the value voted in favor of the plan. All creditors who held crypto balances on the platform were eligible to vote on the Kroll Issuer Services platform from March 19 until March 28.

WazirX co-founder and CEO Nischal Shetty told Cointelegraph that with the plan approved, stolen asset recovery is “a primary focus.” Still, he pointed to profit sharing as a further measure that the firm hopes to use to compensate its users.

The news follows early February reports that WazirX had warned that repayments from the $235 million hack against it could be delayed until 2030 if creditors didn’t approve its proposed restructuring plan. At the time, the platform said that creditors might need to endure “unclear and potentially extended timelines” if the plan wasn’t approved.

WazirX said creditors could face repayment delays if they voted against the restructuring plan. Source: WazirX

Shetty celebrated the vote results in a subsequent X post. He wrote:

“The people have spoken. We will work hard on rebuilding and creating value for everyone.”

Related: CoinSwitch launches $70M recovery fund for WazirX hack victims

The plan for repaying creditors

Shetty described the result as “an important milestone in the recovery process” that “reflects a shared belief in the proposed restructuring plan.” The plan in question was developed under the supervision of Singapore’s legal system and announced in January, it entails WazirX holding liquid assets amounting to $566.4 million USDt — while the claims amount to $546.5 million USDT.

The exchange also released recovery tokens to settle outstanding claims, which allows creditors to benefit from future platform operations and asset recovery. WazirX promised to return funds through token distributions that could yield 75% to 80% of the value of users’ account balances at the time of the cyberattack.

The rest would be represented by recovery tokens, which will be periodically repurchased using profits generated from platform operations and a proposed decentralized exchange (DEX). Plans to launch the DEX were unveiled in November 2024, when Shetty said that it will help prevent hack losses from happening again:

"The best thing is that you'll be able to self-custody your assets here — your assets will be completely under your control — and you can freely trade or do what you want with your assets.”

Shetty also told Cointelegraph that the DEX will aim to be much simpler to interact with than the usual experience of decentralized trading platforms. He said, “Our goal is to make it on par with our CEX in terms of ease of operating.”

Related: Binance, WazirX among crypto firms evading taxes in India, says gov’t

A North Korea-linked hack

WazirX lost $234.9 million of digital assets in a Safe Multisig wallet in mid-July 2024. The attack was attributed to North Korean state actors and unfolded with alarming speed and precision, with many speculating on its impact on the broader crypto industry in India.

Shetty told Cointelegraph that — to prevent future hacks — WazirX has moved to BitGo and Zodia for crypto custody, promising “enhanced protection of funds.” The partnerships also reportedly include insurance.

Hacks continue to be a significant issue for the cryptocurrency industry. According to recent reports, over $2 billion was lost to cryptocurrency hacks in the first quarter of 2025 alone, with nearly $1.63 billion being lost to just access control exploits.

This is also the third quarter in a row that — much like in WazirX’s case — the top exploit was a multisignature-related event. Hacken shared a key lesson on the subject:

“Securing digital assets requires more than just secure on-chain code — the entire infrastructure, from front-end interfaces to internal processes, must be equally hardened, as all it takes is a single weak spot to wreck the entire system.“

Magazine: China’s ‘point running’ crypto scams, pig butchers kidnap kids: Asia Express