Indian Crypto Exchange Hack Sends SHIB, WRX Tumbling as Bitcoin, Tether Trade at Massive Discount

As a seasoned researcher with extensive experience in the cryptocurrency market, I can’t help but be alarmed by the recent turn of events at Indian exchange WazirX. The news of the hack that drained around 50% of the exchange’s reserves and stole $230 million in customer funds, including significant amounts of Shiba Inu (SHIB) and other tokens, has sent shockwaves through the market.In a malicious attack on Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX before Thursday, over half of the platform’s reserves, including stolen cryptocurrencies and its native token, have seen substantial declines in value.

The WRX token of the WazirX exchange is currently trading approximately 15% lower, around 14 cents, based on data from Coingecko. In Indian currency terms, the price has dropped by over 25%, following the confirmation of a hack that led to the theft of $230 million worth of assets, including around $100 million in Shiba Inu (SHIB), $52 million in Ether (ETH), $11 million in Matic, and $6 million in PEPE.

As an analyst, I have observed that since then, SHIB has experienced a decline of over 6% in U.S. dollar terms and a more substantial 16% drop when measured against the Indian rupee. This trend is believed to be connected to reports of a hacker selling off their SHIB coins. The blockchain data supports this notion, indicating that an attacker is indeed unloading large quantities of SHIB, which in turn is contributing to the downward pressure on its market value.

Significantly, the Bitcoin-Rupee (BTC/INR) exchange rate has dropped approximately 11% to reach 5.1 million rupees ($60,945). On CoinDCX, however, the cryptocurrency is being traded at a significant discount of around 5.7 million rupees ($73,825). Globally, Bitcoin’s average dollar price has risen by 1% to $61,800. According to CoinDesk Indices data, the largest cryptocurrency is currently valued at roughly $64,900.

As a crypto investor, I believe that the price drops in Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), and other cryptocurrencies on WazirX could be attributed to my fellow investors’ panic selling and the resulting scramble for fiat or cash following the recent hack.