Breaking News: Singapore Court Grants Critical Moratorium Extension
The Singapore High Court has thrown WazirX a decisive lifeline, extending the exchange’s legal moratorium beyond the June 6, 2025, expiry date in a ruling delivered on June 24, 2025. This eleventh-hour reprieve prevents immediate liquidation and allows WazirX to present further arguments supporting its proposed restructuring plan—a move impacting 400,000+ users awaiting access to funds frozen since the July 2024 hack.
The Court’s Conditions: Transparency Ultimatum
The extension is not unconditional. WazirX must now disclose all wallet addresses via court affidavit to prove asset segregation, release complete financial records within six weeks, including operational cash flows and creditor liabilities, and use independent voting platforms for any future creditor consultations. Failure to comply will result in automatic termination of legal protection, exposing WazirX to creditor lawsuits and forced liquidation.
Judicial Rationale: A “Final Opportunity”
The court explicitly framed this as WazirX’s last chance to rectify transparency failures that led to the May 2025 rejection of its initial restructuring plan. Judges highlighted two critical gaps: parent-company opacity regarding Zettai Pte Ltd’s failure to disclose its lack of a Singapore Digital Token Service Provider license while managing crypto assets, and structural non-disclosure through concealing the role of Panama-based Zensui Corporation during creditor voting on the Scheme of Arrangement.
Immediate Implications: User Funds Remain Frozen
Despite the moratorium extension, zero withdrawals are permitted until the court sanctions a final plan, no fixed timeline exists for the next hearing, prolonging uncertainty, and the exchange’s vague June 24 statement about awaiting court directions offers no operational clarity, deepening user frustration.
The Stakes: Rehabilitation vs. Liquidation
This ruling delays a binary outcome where approval could enable 75%-85% user reimbursements via recovery tokens within 2-4 months, while rejection pushes repayments to 2030+ with recovery rates slashed to 30%-50% after legal fees.
Timeline of Legal Turmoil: From $234M Hack to Moratorium Battles
graph LR A[July 18, 2024 - $234M Hack] --> B[Sep 2024 - Initial Moratorium] B --> C[Mar 28, 2025 - 93% Creditor Approval] C --> D[May 13, 2025 - Court Rejects Plan] D --> E[June 6, 2025 - Moratorium Expiry] E --> F[June 24, 2025 - Extension Granted]
The WazirX crisis began with a catastrophic security breach on July 18, 2024, when North Korean hacking group Lazarus exploited vulnerabilities in the exchange’s multi-signature wallets. In under 4 hours, attackers drained $234 million in user assets—primarily Bitcoin, Ethereum, and WRX tokens—freezing 423,000 accounts instantly.
Phase 1: Emergency Response (July–September 2024)
On July 19, WazirX suspended all withdrawals, calling the hack an organized external attack. By August 3, blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis confirmed Lazarus Group involvement, tracing funds to mixers in Russia. On September 5, parent company Zettai Pte Ltd filed for moratorium protection in Singapore, shielding WazirX from lawsuits while preparing a recovery plan.
Phase 2: Restructuring Proposal & Creditor Vote (October 2024–March 2025)
On December 11, 2024, WazirX proposed shifting operations to Zensui Corporation, a Panama entity, to circumvent Singapore’s licensing barriers. By March 28, 2025, 141,000 creditors approved the Scheme of Arrangement via Kroll’s voting platform, with 94.6% approval by claim value. Notably, no disclosure occurred regarding Zensui’s operational capacity or regulatory status during the voting process.
Phase 3: Judicial Rejection & Brinkmanship (April–June 2025)
On May 13, 2025, Singapore High Court rejected the plan, citing Zettai’s operation without a Digital Token Service Provider license and material non-disclosure of Zensui’s role during voting. When the initial moratorium expired on June 6, WazirX became exposed to asset seizures. An eleventh-hour extension was granted on June 24 after WazirX lawyers argued liquidation would slash user recoveries to pennies on the dollar.
The Hidden Fault Line: Parent vs. Subsidiary
Throughout this timeline, Zettai Pte Ltd—WazirX’s Singapore parent—undermined the exchange’s efforts by operating crypto services without DTSP license since 2022, objecting to WazirX’s restructuring terms despite creditor consensus, and failing to segregate user assets pre-hack, violating Singapore’s Payment Services Act.
Why This Timeline Matters
This chronology reveals a pattern of opacity where critical details like license gaps and the Panama pivot surfaced after votes or decisions, demonstrates regulatory arbitrage through the Zensui move to evade Singapore’s jurisdiction, and highlights how user funds remain frozen 338 days post-hack with no withdrawal pathway.
Core Legal Hurdles: Why Courts Rejected WazirX’s Restructuring
The Singapore High Court’s rejection of WazirX’s restructuring plan on May 13, 2025, stemmed from specific, unresolved legal breaches that created what judges termed a transparency deficit undermining creditor rights and regulatory compliance.
Structural Opacity & Concealed Entities
During the March 2025 creditor vote, WazirX failed to disclose that Zensui Corporation—a Panama-based entity incorporated March 10, 2025—would absorb its operations. This violated Singaporean insolvency laws requiring full disclosure of all participating parties in a Scheme of Arrangement. The court noted material non-disclosure regarding how user funds would transition from Singapore-regulated Zettai Pte Ltd to Panama’s jurisdiction, with no proof of segregated wallets or asset safeguarding mechanisms.
Regulatory Non-Compliance by Parent Company
Zettai Pte Ltd managed crypto assets for global users without obtaining a Digital Token Service Provider license—a mandatory requirement under Singapore’s Payment Services Act since 2020. The Panama pivot appeared designed to bypass Singapore’s regulatory oversight, especially since the Monetary Authority of Singapore had ordered all locally registered firms to cease serving overseas users by June 30, 2025—forcing WazirX’s abrupt offshore shift.
Contradictory Stakeholder Positions
Despite 93% creditor approval of the restructuring plan, Zettai Pte Ltd formally objected to the terms in court, creating a paradoxical scenario where the parent company undermined its subsidiary’s proposal. Though 141,476 creditors approved the plan via Kroll’s platform, many users reported feeling coerced—choosing a 51%-55% dollar-value recovery only because liquidation promised even lower returns after years of delays.
The Court’s Threshold: What Rehabilitation Requires
For any revised plan to gain approval, WazirX must now prove asset segregation by disclosing all wallet addresses via affidavit to verify user funds weren’t commingled with operational capital, clarify how Panama’s legal framework will bindingly uphold token repayments and auditing—addressing Singapore’s skepticism about cross-border enforcement—and submit amended restructuring terms by late July 2025, including Zensui’s audited financials and token redemption mechanics.
The Panama Pivot: Zensui Corporation & Recovery Token Mechanics
WazirX’s restructuring hinges on a high-stakes jurisdictional shift: transferring operations from Singapore’s regulated environment to Zensui Corporation, a Panama entity incorporated on March 10, 2025. This pivot aims to circumvent Singapore’s licensing barriers but introduces complex legal and financial uncertainties for user recoveries.
Why Panama? Regulatory Arbitrage in Action
Singapore’s Monetary Authority had ordered locally registered firms like Zettai Pte Ltd to cease serving overseas users by June 30, 2025—a deadline that would terminate WazirX’s global operations. Panama offered a path to continue services with minimal crypto regulation. Zensui’s incorporation documents position it as a custodian for user assets, theoretically shielding them from Zettai’s creditors, yet no verifiable proof of segregated wallets or reserve audits exists. The transition was finalized just 18 days before the March 2025 creditor vote—deliberately avoiding scrutiny of Zensui’s operational capacity or legal safeguards.
Recovery Tokens: The Engine of User Repayments
Under the Scheme of Arrangement, users would receive blockchain-based IOUs representing 75%-85% of their hacked balances. These tokens function through three interdependent mechanisms: value sources including new exchange profits (30% of net profits from Zensui’s relaunched platform would fund token buybacks), asset recovery (tokens appreciate if stolen funds are reclaimed, though recovery likelihood remains low), and market trading (tokens trade on secondary markets, exposing holders to volatility). Redemption rules impose minimum 5-year vesting for full value realization, with early sellers facing liquidity penalties of 15%-30%. Governance gaps include no independent oversight of profit calculations and undefined buyback triggers, allowing Zensui to delay repurchases during market downturns.
The Fine Print: Risks Disclosed vs. Reality
WazirX’s claimed benefit of 75%-85% recovery carries the unstated risk of assuming 30% profit margins from Day 1, which is unlikely given Panama’s saturated crypto market. The asset recovery upside claim ignores that North Korea’s $234M heist has 0% recovery to date, meaning tokens may never reflect recovered value. While touting tradeable liquidity, no tier-1 exchange listings are confirmed, meaning illiquid markets could collapse token value by 50%+ overnight.
Why Panama’s Jurisdiction Matters
Singaporean courts cannot compel Zensui to honor token terms, and Panama lacks reciprocal legal treaties for crypto disputes. Panama’s proposed Crypto Law 2025 remains unpassed—placing Zensui in a regulatory vacuum. Similar offshore pivots like QuadrigaCX saw entities dissolve before repaying users.
User Repayment Scenarios: Timelines & Potential Outcomes
The path to recovering funds depends entirely on which legal outcome materializes—each carrying distinct timelines, recovery rates, and risks.
Scenario 1: Court Approves Restructuring (Token-Based Recovery)
This scenario would unfold within 2–4 months after final court sanction, offering a theoretical recovery rate of 75%–80% of hacked balances, though market forces could slash this to 51%–55% in dollar terms. Users would receive blockchain-based IOU tokens pegged to their July 2024 balance, with token value depending on Zensui’s profitability, secondary market demand, and asset recovery prospects. Critical risks include token devaluation with no guaranteed price floor, vesting lockups trapping users in volatile assets through 15%–30% early-sale penalties, and jurisdictional voids since Panama lacks crypto enforcement treaties with Singapore.
Scenario 2: Liquidation (Worst-Case Outcome)
Liquidation would likely extend until 2030 or later—involving 5+ years of asset sales and litigation—with recovery rates of 30%–50% after legal and administrative fees consume approximately 40% of remaining assets. The process would prioritize secured creditors like institutional lenders first, leaving users with scraps, while cross-border claims complicate payouts for non-Singaporean users. This scenario remains plausible since Singapore’s court called its extension WazirX’s final opportunity—liquidation triggers if transparency demands aren’t met.
Scenario 3: Partial Asset Recovery (Long-Shot Hope)
Asset recovery offers an indeterminate timeline and highly variable recovery rate depending on tracing stolen funds through mixers and OTC desks. Realities include $0 recovered so far despite 11 months of investigations, and geopolitical barriers where North Korea ignores Interpol requests while stolen crypto funds regime weapons programs.
The Coercion Factor: Why 93% Voted “Yes”
Despite online outrage, 141,476 creditors approved the token plan via Kroll’s platform because liquidation fears drove users to choose 51%-55% now over 30%-50% in 2030, information gaps meant many voted before learning Panama’s Zensui had no audits or operational history, and psychological fatigue set in after 338 days of frozen assets where any resolution felt preferable to limbo.
Immediate Realities: What You Can Do Today
Users should document everything by preserving screenshots of pre-hack balances dated before July 18, 2024, and archiving transaction histories showing asset ownership. They must demand transparency by pressuring WazirX to disclose all wallet addresses per the court’s affidavit mandate. Preparing for both outcomes involves studying DeFi redemption mechanics to avoid penalty traps if tokens launch, and joining creditor collectives to amplify claims in potential liquidation scenarios.
User Action Plan: Protecting Your Interests Today
With funds frozen since July 2024 and legal uncertainty lingering, proactive steps are critical to safeguard claims.
Document Everything Relentlessly
Preserve pre-hack evidence by capturing screenshots of account balances dated before July 18, 2024. Store transaction histories showing deposits, trades, and asset ownership—these are foundational for validating claims if disputes arise. Archive all communications including emails, support tickets, and official announcements from WazirX or Zensui.
Demand Transparency Per Court Mandates
The Singapore court’s moratorium extension requires WazirX to disclose all wallet addresses via affidavit to prove asset segregation and release complete financial records within six weeks. Users should publicly pressure WazirX via social media and community groups to comply, citing Case No. HC/OA 1284/2024 to reinforce demands.
Evaluate Legal Options Objectively
Consider joining creditor collectives like the WazirX Victim Alliance that pool resources for legal representation, strengthening negotiations over token terms or liquidation payouts. If holding stablecoins or low-volatility assets, file formal objections via Kroll upon revised plan release since token-based repayments pegged to volatile markets may disproportionately harm certain asset classes.
Avoid Misinformation & Scams
Trust only verified channels such as Kroll or WazirX’s official communications, ignoring early token access schemes since Zensui hasn’t issued any assets yet. Verify Panama entity details by demanding Zensui Corporation’s incorporation documents and reserve audit reports before accepting token terms.
Prepare for Both Outcomes
If tokens launch, study DeFi redemption mechanics to avoid 15%-30% early-sale penalties and understand how market volatility could erode the promised 75%-85% recovery. If liquidation looms, document cross-border transfer costs for specific jurisdictions since Singaporean users may receive priority over international claimants.
Community Sentiment: Rising Frustration vs. Cautious Hope
Eleven months of silence, broken promises, and shifting timelines have fractured trust—yet slivers of hope persist.
The Outcry: #WazirXScam and Viral Discontent
Despite WazirX’s June 6, 2025, promise of a decision within 14 days, zero updates materialized by June 20, igniting #WazirXScam across Indian crypto forums. While 93% of voting creditors approved the restructuring, community platforms reveal many felt coerced—opting for 51%-55% token recovery only because liquidation offered worse terms. One user’s viral post captures the despair: Choosing between losing 45% now or 70% later isn’t consent—it’s extortion.
Flickers of Hope: The 93% Approval Paradox
Despite online fury, creditors holding 94.6% of claim value voted yes, betting Zensui’s Panama pivot could enable faster repayments than Singapore’s liquidation maze. Some cling to WazirX’s promise that 30% of Zensui’s future profits could boost token value—though no audited business model exists.
The Human Toll: Lives in Limbo
Users report job losses, unpaid medical bills, and canceled home purchases. One Mumbai-based trader testified that his funds were for his daughter’s education, forcing her to defer university. 338 days of uncertainty have fueled anxiety disorders and communal distrust in crypto exchanges.
What’s Next: Critical Legal Milestones Ahead
The moratorium extension merely pauses the countdown. Three make-or-break hurdles will decide funds’ fate.
Zettai’s “Blot Removal” Mission
Per the Singapore court, WazirX’s parent must submit amended restructuring terms by late July 2025, fully disclosing Zensui’s role, finances, and token mechanics. They must hold a re-vote using independent platforms like Kroll, ensuring creditors understand Panama’s jurisdictional risks.
The Transparency Gauntlet
WazirX must prove asset segregation by disclosing wallets via affidavit showing user funds weren’t commingled with operational capital. They must demonstrate enforceable safeguards explaining how Panama’s legal framework will bindingly honor token repayments given the absence of crypto treaties with Singapore.
The Court’s Final Threshold
The next hearing remains unconfirmed but likely in August 2025. Judges will demand proof Zensui can independently audit reserves, concrete profit-sharing triggers for token buybacks, and a user-friendly redemption process without predatory penalties. The ruling emphasized this is WazirX’s final opportunity—non-compliance means liquidation.
Expert Opinion: Balancing Realistic Expectations
Legal Viability of the Panama Pivot
Singapore insolvency attorneys universally highlight the core jurisdictional conflict: Zensui Corporation’s Panama structure exists beyond Singapore’s legal reach, making token repayments unenforceable if Zensui defaults. Transferring liabilities to Panama without reciprocal enforcement treaties converts user claims into speculative promises—not legally binding obligations. The court’s demand for proof of cross-border enforceability remains unmet, jeopardizing the entire restructuring.
Token Economics: Optimism vs. Operational Reality
Industry analysts challenge WazirX’s projection that 30% of Zensui’s profits will fund token buybacks. Panama’s saturated crypto market and WazirX’s eroded trust make near-term profitability unlikely—hacked exchanges typically require 3–5 years to regain trading volume. No tier-1 exchanges like Binance or Coinbase have agreed to list the recovery tokens. Without deep liquidity pools, token values could collapse 50%+ within days of issuance.
Regulatory Arbitrage Risks
The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s June 30, 2025, deadline—banning overseas crypto services by Singapore entities—forced WazirX’s Panama shift. However, Panama’s Crypto Law 2025 remains unenacted, placing Zensui in a regulatory vacuum with zero user protection mandates.
User Advisory: Contingency Planning
Users should develop token literacy by studying DeFi redemption mechanics now to avoid 15%–30% early-sale penalties and demanding clarity on buyback triggers. For liquidation preparation, document cross-border transfer costs for specific jurisdictions and join creditor collectives to amplify claims in asset distributions.
Guarded Optimism with Vigilance
The Singapore court’s moratorium extension prevents immediate liquidation but offers no repayment guarantees. As of June 26, 2025, user funds remain frozen 344 days post-hack, with three critical uncertainties unresolved.
Non-Negotiable Requirements for Viability
WazirX must disclose all asset addresses via affidavit to prove funds weren’t commingled—a step still pending. Panama must ratify its crypto law and establish reciprocal treaties with Singapore to uphold token terms. Independent auditing of Zensui’s revenue and automatic buyback mechanisms are essential.
Your Action Framework
Pressure transparency using Case No. HC/OA 1284/2024 to demand real-time wallet audits per the court order. Scrutinize token economics by rejecting any recovery token terms lacking a price floor mechanism, third-party audit rights, or penalty-free redemption after 12 months. Prepare for 2030+ liquidation by assuming at least 40% value erosion from legal fees and diversifying income streams accordingly.
