Background: WazirX and its security breach

WazirX is an Indian cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy, sell, and trade digital assets such as bitcoin and ether through web and mobile interfaces. The platform offers spot and futures trading and related services, and operates a native utility token, WRX.

History

WazirX was founded on 8 March 2018 by Nischal Shetty, Siddharth Menon, and Sameer Mhatre as a cryptocurrency exchange focused on Indian users. The three co-founders had previously worked together on the social-media tool Crowdfire.

Within weeks of the launch, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a circular restricting regulated banks from providing services to cryptocurrency-related businesses, prompting several exchanges to exit the Indian market. In response, WazirX introduced a peer-to-peer (P2P) mechanism that allowed users to transfer Indian rupees directly between bank accounts while the platform matched orders and escrowed the crypto leg. Beginning on 1 November 2018, Shetty ran the #IndiaWantsCrypto social-media campaign calling for clearer regulation of digital assets in India.

The RBI restriction remained in effect until 4 March 2020, when the Supreme Court of India set it aside, allowing banks to resume services to exchanges.

In November 2019, Binance announced an acquisition of WazirX, describing the deal as its first move into the Indian market; the financial terms were not disclosed.

Operation

WazirX operates a cryptocurrency trading platform for Indian users offering spot and futures trading. Its products have included a peer-to-peer trading system used during the period of restricted banking access (2018–2020), the WRX utility token, and an NFT marketplace operated from 2021. WazirX is registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit—India.

WazirX’s Indian operations have been associated with Zanmai Labs Private Limited. Cryptocurrency trading in India operates within a developing regulatory framework rather than under a single comprehensive licensing regime. The Reserve Bank of India’s 2018 banking restriction on cryptocurrency-related services was overturned by the Supreme Court of India in March 2020. In 2022, India introduced a 30 percent tax on income from the transfer of virtual digital assets and a 1 percent tax deducted at source on transactions, after which reports indicated a decline in trading volumes on WazirX.

Criticism and reception

WazirX is one of India's largest cryptocurrency exchanges by registered users. In mid-2021, its registered user base had grown rapidly, reporting 6.5 million users with June 2021 trading volume of about US$6.2 billion, by 2025 it has more than 16 million registered users.

After the July 2024 cyberattack, it was criticised over its risk management and over proposals such as loss socialisation, while regulators and observers renewed discussion of consumer protection in India's crypto market. Following the restart, some users and commentators criticised the rollout of new revenue products—including the WazirX ZERO subscription and futures trading—arguing the exchange should prioritise repaying the roughly 15 percent of user funds that remained locked in Recovery Tokens.

The WRX token traded around US$0.02 in 2026, down roughly 99 percent from its April 2021 peak of about US$5.94.