WazirX, once one of India’s largest crypto exchanges, remains at the center of a prolonged legal and restructuring process after the platform was hit by a major cyberattack in July 2024. The hack, attributed in the source material to North Korean actors, resulted in the theft of nearly $235 million in crypto assets, forcing the exchange to halt withdrawals and trading and leaving users facing months of uncertainty.
The latest developments show that the case is no longer only about stolen funds and user compensation. It has also become a test of how a crypto platform with cross-border operations can navigate court oversight, restructuring obligations, and evolving financial regulations in multiple jurisdictions.
Singapore Court Asks Direct Questions on Licensing
As of June 4, 2025, the General Division of the High Court of the Republic of Singapore had sent a letter to Zettai Pte. Ltd., the company that operates WazirX, asking its legal team to address a set of highly specific compliance questions. A central issue is whether WazirX can continue operating from Singapore under the country’s upcoming regulatory framework.
The court highlighted that Singapore’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 is set to take effect on June 30, 2025. Under that framework, Zettai would need a DTSP Licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in order to continue running WazirX legally in Singapore. The court specifically wants confirmation that Zettai understands it cannot keep operating after that date without the required license.
In practical terms, this is an important pressure point. WazirX is attempting to move forward with a user recovery plan while at the same time being asked to show that its future business model can meet regulatory standards. The court’s focus suggests that any restructuring plan is being viewed not only through the lens of creditor recovery but also through the broader question of whether the platform can function lawfully once the restructuring is complete.
India Compliance Questions Add Another Layer
Singapore is not the only jurisdiction involved in the court’s review. Another major question raised in the proceedings concerns whether Zettai plans to register WazirX with India’s FIU-IND for its operations.
Zettai’s response, according to the source material, is that neither it nor its Panama subsidiary Zensui plans to seek FIU-IND registration for WazirX’s operations at this time. The company’s position is based on advice from Indian legal counsel, who reportedly argues that the absence of such registration does not mean Zettai has violated Indian law in operating the platform.
Zettai also argues that anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing registration requirements do not, in themselves, determine the legality of its crypto operations. It further states that another group entity, Zanmai India, is already registered with FIU-IND and handles reporting obligations for WazirX, including both crypto-to-crypto and INR-to-crypto activity.
According to the material, Zanmai India has been in communication with FIU-IND since August 2023, including clarifying that a different entity handles crypto-to-crypto transfers. Zettai says that FIU-IND has not objected to that arrangement and that neither Zettai nor Zanmai India has received any notice or penalty relating to registration, either before or after the cyberattack.
At the same time, Zettai leaves the door open to future compliance if regulations change. It says that if Indian rules later require registration, it or Zensui could pursue that route without major issues. For now, however, the company’s position is that Zanmai India’s existing registration is sufficient for current WazirX operations.
User Recovery Plan Remains the Main Focus
For affected customers, the most immediate concern is not licensing theory but money: when distributions will begin and how much can realistically be recovered. The proposed recovery framework described in the source material offers a structured, if incomplete, path for user compensation.
If the Singapore High Court approves WazirX’s restructuring plan, payouts are expected to begin within 10 business days of court approval. The initial recovery is projected at roughly 85% of a user’s portfolio value, to be distributed in crypto tokens or USDT.
The remaining 15% would not be paid immediately in cash or liquid crypto. Instead, it would be represented through Recovery Tokens, which are intended to cover the outstanding portion of user claims over a longer period. Based on the source material, these tokens could be distributed over two to three years, depending on the exchange’s future profits and the success of asset recovery efforts.
The plan also indicates that Recovery Tokens could potentially be traded if they are listed, giving users some optional liquidity. In addition, WazirX is said to intend quarterly buybacks of those tokens. Still, this mechanism depends heavily on future operational performance. A token-based deferred recovery may provide a framework for claims, but it does not eliminate execution risk.
Why the Court Hearing Matters So Much
The source material identifies the May 13, 2025 Singapore court hearing as a make-or-break moment. That hearing is expected to determine whether the restructuring plan can move forward. If approved, users could begin seeing distributions within weeks. If rejected, the process could face significant delays, potentially pushing meaningful payouts into 2026 or later.
This creates a stark contrast in possible outcomes. A successful restructuring would give WazirX a chance to restart operations, restore some confidence, and begin repaying users under a supervised framework. A failed restructuring, by contrast, could lead to prolonged uncertainty, slower recoveries, and a more complex legal path for creditors and platform users alike.
Major Risks Still Hang Over the Process
Even if the restructuring is approved, the plan is far from risk-free. The source material points to several key uncertainties.
First, regulatory hurdles could delay or complicate the platform’s relaunch. The court’s questions around the DTSP Licence show that regulatory readiness is not a side issue; it is central to whether WazirX can operate on a lawful basis after restructuring.
Second, the value of the deferred recovery depends on future business performance. If WazirX is unable to generate enough profit after relaunch, buybacks of Recovery Tokens could be weaker or slower than users hope.
Third, there is ongoing uncertainty around the recovery of stolen assets. The more the exchange is able to recover, the stronger the prospects for maximizing eventual payouts. If recovery efforts underperform, reaching a full 100% recovery may remain out of reach.
Finally, trust remains a major intangible challenge. After a hack of this scale and a lengthy legal process, users may remain cautious even if the exchange resumes operations. Rebuilding participation and confidence could be just as important as satisfying legal and regulatory demands.
A Defining Case for Cross-Border Crypto Restructuring
The WazirX case illustrates how modern crypto exchange failures can quickly become multi-jurisdictional events. A platform with Indian users, a Singapore operating structure, and questions involving both MAS and FIU-IND now finds itself balancing technical recovery, legal restructuring, compliance positioning, and customer restitution all at once.
That makes this more than a single-company crisis. It is also a broader example of what happens when a major exchange suffers a catastrophic security breach in an environment where regulation is still tightening and court-supervised recovery mechanisms are becoming more important.
For users, the central message is mixed. There is a clear recovery roadmap on paper, including a near-term distribution target of about 85% and a structured mechanism for the balance. But there is also no escaping the fact that the final outcome still depends on legal approval, regulatory compatibility, platform relaunch, profitability, and the ability to recover missing assets.
In other words, the process has moved beyond the initial shock of the hack, but it has not yet reached certainty. The next phase will likely determine whether WazirX becomes a rare example of a partially successful crypto restructuring—or another cautionary tale about the cost of security failures and regulatory complexity in digital asset markets.