Delhi Police have made progress in investigating the $235 million breach of crypto exchange WazirX by arresting SK Masud Alam from Bengal.

On Nov. 13, local media outlet IndiaToday reported that Alam allegedly set up a fake account on WazirX under the alias “Souvik Mondal.” He reportedly sold this account via Telegram to a person identified as M. Hasan, who then used it to carry out the exploit.

As part of the investigation, authorities have confiscated three laptops belonging to WazirX’s authorized signatories to examine possible misuse of multisig wallets.

The charge sheet reveals that WazirX has been fully cooperative in providing detailed KYC data and transaction records. However, an inspection by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (IFSO) found no evidence of unauthorized access within WazirX’s internal systems.

In contrast, authorities report difficulties working with Liminal, the digital asset custody provider initially responsible for securing WazirX’s wallets.

Police claim that despite repeated requests, Liminal failed to supply relevant information, hindering their ability to trace the breach fully. As a result, Liminal’s alleged lack of cooperation will be highlighted in a supplementary charge sheet as the investigation continues.

WazirX and Liminal had previously traded blame over the breach. The exchange asserted that Liminal failed to uphold security standards, while the asset custodian faulted WazirX’s management practices.

Fund recovery initiatives

This development comes around a week after the exchange outlined strategies to maximize fund recovery for its creditors.

The first step involves reopening the trading platform to restore trading volumes and generate revenue that benefits creditors. WazirX plans to share fees collected during this period with creditors, creating a direct pathway for financial recovery.

The second initiative would see WazirX diversify its revenue streams by launching new services, including a decentralized exchange (DEX), staking, an over-the-counter (OTC) desk, and futures trading.

These services would be designed to attract users to the platform, and the revenue would also be aimed at making the platform whole.

Meanwhile, WazirX has also committed to recovering lost and illiquid assets through legal channels. The exchange aims to reclaim these assets to safeguard them for its creditors. The firm stated:

“This process includes tracking these assets and preventing unauthorized withdrawals to maximize potential returns for Creditors.”

The final part of WazirX’s recovery strategy involves exploring “White Knight” partnerships, where potential investors could provide rescue financing. This approach would introduce new funds into the recovery process, supporting WazirX’s efforts to compensate creditors and stabilize operations.

The post Delhi police arrest key suspect in $235M WazirX crypto breach appeared first on CryptoSlate.

This column is a look back at the week that was in AI. Read the previous one here.

While it was not shocking to see AI as the leading sector in October’s venture funding numbers, it was intriguing to see the sector also had its second-strongest fundraising month of all time.

Last month, AI-related startups raised $12.2 billion in funding — per Crunchbase data — or 38% of total monthly venture funding globally. That is only behind May of this year, when similar startups raised a whopping $12.8 billion led by Elon Musk’s generative AI startup, xAI, raising a $6 billion Series B round at a $24 billion valuation.

Similarly, last month also had a really big round — OpenAI’s long-awaited raise of $6.6 billion at a post-money valuation of $157 billion — but it seems almost every month has a really big AI raise.

Additionally, even eliminating OpenAI’s massive round, October’s numbers still mean AI startups raised more than $6.6 billion last month. That number is all the more impressive when one considers in August and September AI startups raised only $8.7 billion combined.

October’s venture dollar amount easily bested September’s nearly $4.3 billion raised, despite the fact September saw more than 100 more AI related rounds — 522 in September compared to 413 in October.

Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the reasons for the higher dollar figure despite fewer rounds was likely the plethora of huge nine-figure rounds in October. Last month saw 11 deals of $100 million or more, compared to only 13 in August and September combined.

Some of the biggest rounds (aside from OpenAI) included:

• AI coding startup Poolside raised a $500 million Series B led by Bain Capital Ventures at a reported $3 billion valuation.
• Lightmatter, a startup that uses light to link chips together and to do calculations for the deep learning necessary for AI, locked up a $400 million Series D led by new investor T. Rowe Price at a $4.4 billion valuation.
• Conversational AI startup Sierra raised $175 million this week in a funding round led by Greenoaks Capital that gave it a $4.5 billion valuation.

The dollar number along with the variety of AI startups raising money — from coding to chips to conversation AI — seems to show that August’s and September’s little lull in AI funding was just a brief interlude before another VC eruption.

It’s been nearly two years since the world fell into its current AI craze and October shows there is no end in sight. In AI, even when numbers seem to come back to reality, the next explosion in venture dollars is just around the corner.

Related Crunchbase Pro query:

• Rounds Raised By Startups Using AI

Related reading:

• AI, Data Center And Energy Startups Get Large Capital Infusion In October
• xAI Makes It Official — Raises $6B At $24B Valuation
• OpenAI Raises $6.6B At $157B Valuation
• AI-Coding Startup Poolside Raises Massive $500M Series B
• Photonic Startup Lightmatter Raises $400M Amid Data Center Frenzy; Hits $4.4B Valuation

Illustration: Dom Guzman