WazirX to Phase In Indian Rupee Withdrawals Starting Aug. 26

WazirX, the Indian crypto exchange that lost $230 million to a hack in July, said it will start allowing limited rupee withdrawals after freezing them in the wake of the exploit.

Withdrawals of up to 66% of users’ rupee balances will be phased in over the next month, starting Monday, it said in a Friday statement. From Aug. 26 to Sept. 8, users will be allowed to withdraw up to half of that limit, with the remainder available between Sept. 9 and Sept. 22.

WazirX said the operating entity for its rupee-related activities, Zanmai Labs, was not affected by the attack and had sufficient reserves to cover the balances. It had to keep the remaining 34% of funds back, however, because of investigations by law-enforcement agencies, the company said. The timeline for the release of those frozen balances is unclear, it said.

“While we regret that users have not been able to make withdrawals of cryptocurrency from their account on the platform for some time, it is not possible to simply resume cryptocurrency withdrawals,” the exchange said. “Due to the cyberattack and loss of a significant balance of ERC-20 tokens as a result of the theft, there are insufficient token assets available to meet the liabilities arising from the token balances owing to users of the platform.”

Read more: WazirX Surveys Users on Recovery Options After $230M Hack, Leaves Customers and Industry Players Fuming