WazirX, one of India’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, has fallen victim to a massive hack, resulting in the theft of approximately $230 million in various digital assets.
The breach, confirmed by multiple security analysts, has been detailed by Lookonchain, a blockchain analysis firm.
According to Lookonchain’s analysis in an X post on July 18, the largest loss was in Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens, with a staggering 5.43 trillion SHIB, valued at $102 million, being stolen. This makes SHIB the most affected cryptocurrency in this high-profile hack.
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In addition to SHIB, the hackers managed to steal 15,298 Ethereum (ETH) worth $52.5 million, 20.5 million Polygon (MATIC) worth $11.24 million, 640.27 billion Pepe (PEPE) worth $7.6 million, 5.79 million Tether (USDT), and 135 million Gala (GALA) worth $3.5 million.
In response to the security breach, the exchange has temporarily paused the withdrawal of cryptocurrencies and Indian rupees. However, further analysis indicated that the exploiter had begun selling the stolen SHIB.
Overall, the theft has raised concerns within the cryptocurrency community, considering the sector is attempting to mount a recovery led by Bitcoin (BTC). Notably, it will be of interest to monitor how the most affected token, SHIB, reacts to the incident in the coming days.
AI predicts SHIB’s price
In this line, Finbold consulted OpenAI’s latest and most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tool, ChatGPT-4o, to gather insights on how SHIB will trade on August 1.
The AI tool outlined several possible scenarios for SHIB’s price by August 1, considering the immediate aftermath of the hack and the broader market dynamics. The hack could erode investor confidence, leading to a sell-off and a decrease in the price of SHIB. If negative sentiment prevails, the price could drop to around $0.000015 or lower, according to ChatGPT-4o.
Additionally, the price could stabilize or recover if the market perceives that security measures are being strengthened and the situation is under control. In this neutral scenario, the AI platform predicted that the meme coin might hover around $0.000017.
At the same time, ChatGPT-4o acknowledged that broader cryptocurrency market trends, regulatory news, and macroeconomic factors will also play a significant role. If positive news or strong buying interest emerges, the price could rise to around $0.000020 or higher.
In addition to relying on the general market trajectory, SHIB is considering community-led initiatives to alleviate any fallout from the exchange. For instance, the burning activity has accelerated.
According to data shared by Shibburn in an X post on July 18, the burning rate over the past 24 hours surged by 874.74%.
SHIB price analysis
By press time, SHIB was trading at $0.00001735 with 24-hour losses of over 10%. On the weekly chart, the meme coin is up over 4%.
With SHIB exhibiting bearishness in the short term, investors need to monitor several key levels, such as claiming the $0.000018 resistance. Losing the $0.0000170 support will likely escalate the bearish sentiments.
Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.
