Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX is under fire from customers and industry peers following its “Withdrawal Management Programme: Opinion Poll” in the wake of a $230 million hack. The hack affected 45% of user funds and led to a controversial poll on July 27th, asking users to choose between two recovery options: access 55% of funds without withdrawals and get priority for potential recovery, or access 55% with withdrawals but second priority.
Poll Sparks Outrage
WazirX and its co-founder Nischal Shetty quickly clarified that the poll was “not legally binding” and merely a “preliminary step to understand” customer opinions. They announced plans to launch a feedback form to gather more ideas. However, this did little to quell the criticism.
Co-founders from rival exchanges like Giottus, CoinDCX, and Unocoin voiced strong objections. Arjun Vijay of Giottus labeled the poll “not in the best interests of the ecosystem” and accused it of coercing customers into a preferred choice. CoinDCX’s Sumit Gupta argued that WazirX’s approach was damaging to the community and could negatively impact other ecosystem participants. Unocoin’s Dr. Sathvik Vishwanath noted that the crypto industry’s handling of the incident was worsening the situation.
Customer and Industry Reactions
WazirX’s initial statement suggested that the strategy offered immediate access to a significant portion of assets while allowing for further recovery. However, many observers and customers were dissatisfied. Critics labeled the approach as “socialized loss, privatized profits” and questioned the fairness of penalizing users with non-stolen tokens. One customer expressed disbelief, asking, “Is this even legal?!?!?!”
Appeal for Binance Assistance
WazirX reportedly approached former partner Binance for assistance in bailing out affected customers, according to Indian news outlet Moneycontrol. WazirX did not comment on this report.
In a separate development, India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) allegedly placed nearly $1.1 million in seized crypto assets in a WazirX wallet in January, months before the hack. Both WazirX and the ED did not respond to requests for comment.
