WazirX Doubles Bounty as Hacker Moves $57 MIllion in Stolen Ether; Will It Work?

• WazirX doubles down on the bounty program to recover the $230 million stolen funds, offering up to $23 million in rewards.
• Hacker behind the WazirX hack transfers $57 million worth of stolen Ether to new wallets.
• Crypto industry faces a wave of security breaches, highlighting the need for robust security measures.

Following the massive $230 million hack of WazirX, the hacker has transferred $57 million worth of stolen Ether to new wallets. This development has prompted the exchange to significantly boost its bounty program, aiming to track and recover the misappropriated funds.

#PeckShieldAlert The #WazirX Hacker -labeled addresses has transferred ~16.35K $ETH (worth ~$57m) to 2 new addresses pic.twitter.com/AYqwXYxN15

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) July 22, 2024

Hacker Makes the Next Move

On July 22, blockchain security firm PeckShield reported that the hacker behind the Wazirx information 

 breach transferred 16,350 Ether (ETH), valued at over $57 million, to two new cryptocurrency addresses. Most of the funds, over $54 million, were moved to an address beginning with “0x58d.”

This transfer represents a significant chunk of the $230 million stolen from WazirX, India’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, marking it as the second-largest crypto hack of 2024.

WazirX’s Enhanced Bounty Programs

In response to the hacker’s actions, WazirX has intensified its efforts to track and recover the stolen assets by enhancing its bounty programs. 

According to a WazirX spokesperson, 54 white hat hackers have already joined the recovery initiative for two bounty programs. 

The first, the “Track and Freeze” bounty, offers up to $10,000 in Tether (USDT) for actionable intelligence that helps track and freeze the stolen funds. 

The second is the “White Hat Recovery” bounty, aimed at ethical hackers, which now rewards up to 10% of the recovered amount, with the maximum reward increased to $23 million. 

This bounty program will run for three months from the date of the announcement.

A Troubling Time for Crypto

The WazirX hack occurred during a challenging period for the cryptocurrency industry, which has been hit by several high-profile security breaches. 

Shortly after the WazirX incident, Rho Markets suffered a hack that resulted in nearly $8 million in losses. Fortunately, the stolen assets were eventually returned, allowing Rho Markets to resume operations.

In addition, users of the popular Telegram-based game Hamster Kombat were targeted by phishing attacks and fake airdrops designed to steal their credentials and cryptocurrency holdings.