On October 15, WazirX exchange management is going to organize the first meeting of Committee of Creditors (CoC)- a secret group of 10 persons who will represent all 4.4 million users of WazirX for the upcoming restructuring scheme (compensation plan) in the wake of Rs 2000 crore hack.
The WazirX management has claimed that they chose the 10 members of CoC randomly after selecting a pool of 43,000 WazirX users and have refused to divulge the identity of these members citing “security reasons”. WazirX management has claimed that the CoC’s role will be consultative but they will play an instrumental role in deciding the process through which the exchange will run an independent poll later on and formulate the compensation process for the 4.4 million affected users.
With such secrecy and lack of transparency in sight, the aggrieved users of WazirX feel that their true concerns might not be represented in a fair manner by the CoC members, whose identity or existence is not even verified. The Crypto Times reached out to several leading crypto influencers and WazirX users in India to understand how the CoC can address the issues of 4.4 Million users in a better manner.
“Publish Transparency Report, No More hiding behind confidentiality,” says Aditya Singh (@cryptooaddy)
The Crypto Times reached out to popular Indian crypto figure Aditya Singh regarding the key agenda points the CoC members should discuss. He shared his valuable insights with us which we have published verbatim.
“The CoC members must ask WazirX management to publish a transparency report so that people have an idea of how much of crypto funds are still available with WazirX and in what wallets. Earlier, the management had claimed post the hack that they will be moving funds but it has not happened yet. There is no update on the remaining 34% INR funds of users,” said Singh.
Singh also criticized the manner in which the exchange had kept Rs 100 crore of user funds for legal and administrative costs.
“The manner in which WazirX has kept aside Rs 100 crore of user funds for their own expenses must also be questioned by the CoC members. They must ask WazirX whether they are reimbursing their CEOs and staff with the same Rs 100 crore fund,” said Singh.
He also questioned the rationale behind making a 10 member committee to represent all 4.4 million users of WazirX exchange.
“It is not a sensible decision because these 10 members, who have been chosen at random, might not be fully aware of all the grievances of the users and they might not represent them fairly. Instead, WazirX could have made an open forum for all users to comment and then batched up similar questions to address them,” said Singh.
“Focus should be on compensation and recovery of funds,” says Ajay Kashyap
Popular crypto influencer Ajay Kashyap also shared his views on the WazirX hack and what CoC members could ask from the exchange management.
“Few questions that CoC members could ask is that how soon the compensation and recovery process will initiate and how can WazirX ensure that the proposed strategy is fair and transparent for all users. Other questions that can also be asked include how WazirX can improve communication and transparency with users and what legal frameworks and regulatory compliance measures need to be addressed in light of the hack. Also WazirX must tell, how are they collaborating with law enforcement to trace and recover stolen assets,” said Kashyap.
“Give us our money or sell the company: WazirX Users
The Crypto Times team also reached out to various affected WazirX users regarding what are their expectations from the CoC meeting scheduled on October 15. A WazirX victim ( X handle @cryptoschool13), who wished to remain anonymous, said that he had invested Rs 2 lakh in the exchange.
“I want that the exchange immediately starts remaining funds withdrawal to all users. Then the exchange can either raise funds or sell the exchange to compensate us the entire amount,” said WazirX user @cryptoschool13.
Similarly, popular X figure @indiascrypto, who is also a WazirX user shared his insights regarding the CoC meeting.
Conclusion
WazirX management has claimed that they will be publishing the details of the October 15 meeting with CoC members with all users. However, since the identity of CoC remains secret, the users are still awaiting for some transparency.
Also Read: I Don’t Have Power to Investigate WazirX Hack, says Singapore Judge Who Granted Moratorium
