“Is my money safe?” – was the most asked question by India based crypto investors on Thursday as the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange WazirX lost half of its investor funds amounting to $234.9 million in a massive hack. However, several rival cryptocurrency exchanges in India were quick to release statements, post the WazirX hack, ensuring customers that their assets are indeed “safe.”
By 2023, India had over 19 million crypto investors with Dogecoin (11.1%), Bitcoin (8.1%) and Ethereum (6.4%) being their most favoured tokens, as per a report in Coinswitch. In that context, the massive security breach at WazirX is bound to push back the steady rate of crypto adoption in world’s most populous country.
To restore trust of investors, several Indian cryptocurrency exchanges are trying to reassure their users claiming their assets are safe due to preemptive measures followed by them.
CoinSwitch, a prominent Indian cryptocurrency exchange, released a statement on X claiming that their assets have been untouched by the WazirX incident.
“We are aware of the recent security breach on the WazirX platform. We want to assure our users that their funds on CoinSwitch are secure and unaffected by this incident.” said Ashish Singhal, CEO, CoinSwitch. He also advised crypto investors to be mindful of potential market volatility and exercise caution in their trading.
Another prominent exchange CoinDCX, also moved quickly, with CEO and co-founder Sumit Gupta releasing an extensive video outlining the company’s stringent security protocols. They emphasized that the risk of cyber breaches is much decreased because all consumer cash is kept in cold wallets.
According to Sumit Gupta, the ISO 27001 accreditation, which CoinDCX proudly displayed, demonstrates the company’s dedication to upholding strict security guidelines. They also use cutting-edge security technology including sophisticated encryption techniques, Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), and Multi-Party Computation (MPC).
Further, Mudrex, an Indian cryptocurrency investment platform, reassured consumers by highlighting the platform’s compliance with strict regulatory requirements in both India and the European Union.
The founder of Mudrex, Edul Patel, made a post on X claiming that Mudrex ensures operational flexibility and security with 24/7 crypto deposits and withdrawals. They regularly examine their operations to ensure a 1:1 fund ratio and fully support consumer deposits. They subject their code base to multi-layered reviews to guard against potential exploits.
Edul Patel also demanded in their statement that the Indian government expedite the implementation of full legislation to provide a more secure and dependable atmosphere for the country’s whole cryptocurrency ecosystem.
In the wake of WazirX fiasco, the Indian exchanges are now trying hard to win back the trust and confidence of their investors with an aim to stabilize the local crypto market. However, long run measures such as robust security, transparency and strict regulatory compliance are the actual tools that can help crypto sail out of this fierce storm.
Also Read: Half Of Investors’ Funds Gone From WazirX In Massive Breach