WazirX Confirms Restart on Track as It Awaits Sanction Hearing in May

Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has confirmed that it is on track to restart its operations pending a May 13 court decision on its restructuring proposal and user compensation plan. The move comes after the exchange was hacked for $234 million last July, resulting in the theft of crypto from a Safe Multisig wallet attributed to North Korean hackers.

WazirX parent company Zettai PTE Ltd has completed all prior required steps and awaits the sanction hearing scheduled for May 13, 2025. The firm stated that this hearing is essential for its proposed restructuring plan to become legally effective, allowing it to restart operations and begin compensation for affected users within 10 business days.

In April, over 90% of the voting creditors voted in favor of WazirX's post-hack restructuring plan, which involves the issuance of recovery tokens. These tokens would be repurchased using net profits from the exchange, yielding 75% to 80% of users' account balances at the time of the cyberattack.

WazirX had warned that repayments from the $235 million hack could be delayed until 2030 if creditors didn't approve its proposed restructuring plan. However, with the court's approval for a creditors' meeting to propose a possible remedy for users and a plan to get the exchange back online in January, WazirX is confident about restarting operations.

"We understand the eagerness around the platform restart and truly appreciate your continued patience," WazirX said. "Since the beginning, we have communicated that the first distribution and restart would occur within the April-May 2025 window."

However, not all news is positive for WazirX. A separate court judgment from the Supreme Court of India dismissed a petition filed by 54 victims of the hack, who sought legal action against WazirX, Shetty, Binance, and custody provider Liminal.

The petitioners also requested an audit of WazirX's accounts, but Justices B.R. Gavai and Augustine Masih rejected the petition, stating that the court could not rule on the case due to it being a matter of crypto policy, which is outside the court's authority.

Gavai and Masih advised the petitioners to approach a regulatory body or other relevant authority to hear the matter instead. The outcome of this latest development remains to be seen, but WazirX's restart plans appear to be on track for now.