Victims of WazirX hack plan class action in India after Singapore moratorium
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Victims of the $233-million WazirX hack are preparing to sue the cryptocurrency exchange for damages in the national consumer forum after the firm’s Singapore-based parent won a four-month moratorium against legal proceedings in the city-state.
Two petitions have already been filed against the exchange at the Delhi high court—one by CoinSwitch co-founder Ashish Singhal on 28 August alleging security lapses on the part of WazirX, and another by investor Jaivir Bains on 18 October seeking an investigation into the hack. WazirX, among India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, reported a $233-million hack on 18 July that saw all of its Ether tokens stolen, leaving about 4 million of its users stranded.
The new suit is expected to be filed with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), according to a group of victims and lawyers Mint spoke with. “We are filing a class-action lawsuit with the national consumer forum under the rationale that the agreement between the exchange’s users and WazirX was with Zanmai Labs Pvt.
Ltd—which is based in India," said Supreme Court lawyer Aman Rehaan Khan, who is appearing for the class-action lawsuit at the NCDRC. “It cannot, therefore, be justifiable in law that WazirX went and filed for a legal resolution and restructuring of its assets in Singapore through Zettai Pte Ltd (WazirX’s parent firm)." Also read | Why WazirX will find it hard to recover stolen cryptos Zanmai Labs is WazirX’s India holding arm for all cash deposits.
On the other hand, Singapore-headquartered Zettai is WazirX’s crypto token-holding entity that holds all cryptocurrency assets of the exchange. The class action, expected to be filed by mid-November, currently
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