The Madras High Court has recognized cryptocurrency as property capable of being held in trust, granting relief to a WazirX user whose XRP funds were frozen following the exchange’s 2024 hack.
The ruling could set a precedent for how Indian courts handle user claims against exchanges operating under foreign jurisdictions.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh’s Oct. 25 order directed Zanmai Labs, WazirX’s Indian operator, to furnish a bank guarantee worth roughly 9.56 lakh (around $11,500), equivalent to the petitioner’s frozen 3,532 XRP, pending arbitration.
“The cryptocurrency was held by her in India by means of the WazirX platform,” the court said. “Cryptocurrency is a property… capable of being enjoyed and possessed, and capable of being held in trust.”
The decision came after Rhutikumari, a long-time WazirX user, challenged the exchange’s right to redistribute her XRP holdings under a “socialized loss scheme” tied to its Singapore-based parent Zettai Pte Ltd’s restructuring.
WazirX, once India’s largest crypto exchange, halted withdrawals in July 2024 after a $230 million hack targeting wallets managed by Singapore custodian Liminal. The company then pursued a court-supervised restructuring in Singapore, under which users would receive “recovery tokens” and partial repayments once operations resumed.
That plan — approved by the Singapore High Court earlier this month — has since become the cornerstone of WazirX’s relaunch. But the Madras ruling signals that Indian users may still seek domestic legal protection even when the company’s legal seat lies abroad.
For thousands of Indian users still waiting for their tokens from the 2024 WazirX hack, the Madras decision marks the first tangible win.
It doesn’t force WazirX to return funds yet, but it acknowledges a principle that may define future cases: That crypto belongs to the user, not the exchange.
