57.66% Think WazirX Will Recover from $230M Hack, Survey Says

The recent $230 million WazirX hack has sent shockwaves through the crypto community. This massive security breach at one of India’s prominent crypto exchanges has raised numerous questions and concerns among users and experts alike.

WazirX, which experienced a significant cyber-attack on one of its wallets, is working tirelessly to address the fallout, protect customer assets, and recover the stolen funds. To gain a better understanding of public sentiment regarding this incident, Real Research, an online survey app, conducted a comprehensive survey to gauge opinions and concerns.

Key Findings:

• 68.8% think WazirX is primarily responsible for the hack.
• 57.66% believe WazirX will manage to recover from the hack.
• The $23 million bug bounty initiative seems to be getting a thumbs up from 58.96%.

The WazirX Crypto Exchange Hack

WazirX, a popular exchange, recently experienced a massive security breach that resulted in the loss of over $230 million in user assets, representing over 45% of the total reserves reported in June 2024. When asked if they were aware of the WazirX hack, 63% of respondents confirmed their knowledge, while 37% were unaware.

Who’s to Blame?

WazirX has stated that the hack occurred outside its product infrastructure and that the hacked multisig wallet was hosted by third-party custody provider Liminal. However, Liminal argued that its infrastructure was not compromised and attributed the exploit to compromised devices owned by WazirX.

Consequently, the survey explored who respondents believe is primarily responsible for the WazirX exchange security breach. The results show that 68.8% attribute the fault to WazirX. In contrast, only 14.2% think the third-party custody provider, Liminal, is at fault. Interestingly, 14.6% believe that both parties share responsibility, while a small 2.4% feel neither party is to blame.

Can WazirX Bounce Back?

WazirX has temporarily paused INR and crypto withdrawals on the platform. Meanwhile, co-founder Nischal Shetty mentioned ongoing efforts to find a resolution to help restart the exchange’s services and recover the stolen funds.

Regarding the potential for WazirX to recover fully from the $230 million hack, the survey indicates a slightly optimistic outlook. 57.66% believe that WazirX will be able to recover, whereas 42.34% are doubtful about the exchange’s ability to fully rebound from the attack.

Bug Bounty Hopes

To address the situation, WazirX has launched a $23 million bug bounty program aimed at incentivizing hackers to return the stolen funds. When asked if this initiative would be effective, 58.96% expressed optimism, while 41.04% were skeptical about its success.

Moreover, on the question of whether hackers responsible for the WazirX hack should be incentivized to return the stolen funds, 62.1% of respondents supported the idea.

Security Concerns Skyrocket

The hack has heightened concerns about the security of digital assets on crypto exchanges. A majority of 58.08% of respondents are very concerned about the security of their assets, and 38.68% are somewhat concerned. Only 3.24% are not concerned at all.

The incident has also raised serious concerns about the security of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms. 51.74% of respondents believe centralized exchanges are more secure, while 48.12% favor decentralized platforms.