Almost a month after India’s biggest crypto hack of Rs 2000 crore, the WazirX exchange ended its association with Liminal Custody- a digital assets custody platform- that was entrusted with safeguarding the affected multi-sig wallet.
Additionally, WazirX on Wednesday announced that they are migrating their remaining assets held with Liminal to new multisig wallets to ensure “maximum security” of the assets. Interestingly, WazirX still maintains that their interface and systems were uncompromised and breach occurred on behalf of Liminal Custody during the cyber attack on July 18.
“We are in the process of migrating the remaining assets held with Liminal to new multisig wallets. This step is essential to ensure maximum security of the assets in light of recent events. While we believe our interface and systems remain uncompromised, the same cannot be said for the custodian’s interface post the July 18th incident, prompting this precaution,” said WazirX in an official statement posted on ‘X’.
The recent announcement by WazirX failed to soothe the nerves of angry investors who have been demanding immediate withdrawal of their locked funds.
Liminal Custody Responds to WazirX, Negates Allegations
After WazirX claimed that the breach on their multi-sig wallet occurred from the end of Liminal Custody, the latter also released a statement refuting the allegations made by them
As clarified in our previous statements as well, the client in question is using our self-custody wallet infrastructure software. They have complete access to all the wallets and funds at all times and are the sole initiators of all transactions. They also get recovery kits and backup kits to gain complete access to their wallets in the event that Liminal were to not exist for any reason. This is a standard and default feature of all self-custodial wallet infrastructure products,” said an official spokesperson of Liminal Custody.
The Liminal Custody also criticized the manner in which WazirX took more than 26 days to finally migrate the funds.
The client could have removed the funds immediately post the incident. They’ve always had the ability to exercise full control of wallets, regardless of Liminal or the Liminal key. We have supported and will continue to support the client in moving their wallets and assets as requested,” said the Liminal Custody spokesperson.
What Happened between WazirX and Liminal Custody on July 18?
On July 18, unknown hackers had breached the multi-sig wallet of WazirX and stolen large amounts of cryptocurrencies totaling $230 Million (Rs 2000 crore). That was 45% investor funds gone from the single multi-sig wallet where WazirX had kept all the funds. WazirX had claimed that the affected multi-sig wallet had four distinct “key-holders”- three with the exchange and one with Liminal Custody.
Post the attack, WazirX had blamed Liminal Custody for the alleged breach of their multi-sig wallet while the latter had denied any wrongdoings on their part. Even to this date, WazirX has maintained that their user interface remained uncompromised.
The Strange Connection of WazirX’s Nischal Shetty and Liminal’s Mahin Gupta
The Crypto Times on Monday reported that WazirX’s co-founder Nischal Shetty is the co-founder of another Indian crypto exchange ‘Pi42’. Interestingly, the founder of Liminal Custody, Mahin Gupta, is also an advisor and investor with Pi42. The victim investors of WazirX had pointed out the connection between Gupta and Shetty and criticized the manner in which WazirX and Liminal have been playing blame game despite their close connections.
Also Read: WazirX Hack Mystery Deepens: The Pi42 link of Liminal’s Gupta & WazirX
