WazirX could restart operations next month, as the hacked trading platform awaits a crucial court decision in Singapore that could clear the way for its post-hack recovery plan and user compensation scheme.
After nearly nine months of inactivity, WazirX could finally resume services if Singapore’s High Court approves its restructuring plan, the company said in an April 21 update to X.
The proposal, submitted by parent company Zettai PTE Ltd, outlines how the exchange plans to recover from the $234 million hack it suffered last July.
If approved at the May 13 sanction hearing, Zettai says trading and withdrawals could resume within 10 business days, kicking off a phased recovery process.
“This hearing is essential for the Scheme to become legally effective,” WazirX said, noting that it has “completed all prior required steps,” reiterating that it remains on track for a relaunch within the previously communicated April–May 2025 window.
The July 2024 hack, attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, forced WazirX to pause all crypto and fiat withdrawals after attackers drained funds from a Safe Multisig wallet. Since then, the exchange has been working on a court-backed plan to return assets to users and relaunch its platform.
Under the proposed scheme, affected users would receive recovery tokens, redeemable over time through the platform’s profits, expected to cover 75% to 80% of account balances at the time of the hack. Full repayment could take up to 36 months, depending on the exchange’s performance.
However, the plan didn’t land well with all users at first. When WazirX unveiled the scheme in February, it was met with strong criticism for tying repayments to the success of a new decentralised exchange. Users accused the team of offering an “unfair” deal, especially after WazirX warned that rejecting the plan could result in a five-year delay in compensation.
Despite the initial pushback, the plan gained traction in March. More than 90% of creditors, representing over $195 million in approved claims, voted in favour of the restructuring during a 10-day window hosted on the Kroll Issuer Services platform.
While the recovery plan moved forward, 54 users tried to take legal action against WazirX in India’s Supreme Court. However, the case was dismissed on April 16, with the court stating it was not the right forum to deal with crypto-related disputes.
