The Madras High Court has recognized cryptocurrency as property that can be held in trust, granting relief to a WazirX user whose XRP funds were frozen following the exchange’s hack in 2024.
The ruling could set a precedent for how Indian courts handle user claims against exchanges operating under foreign jurisdictions.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh’s October 25 order directed Zanmai Labs, the Indian operator of WazirX, to provide a bank guarantee worth approximately 9.56 lakh (around $11,500), equivalent to the petitioner’s frozen 3,532 XRP, pending arbitration.
“She had the cryptocurrency in India through the WazirX platform,” the court said. “Cryptocurrency is property… that can be enjoyed and owned, and that can be 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” linked to the restructuring of its Singapore-based parent, Zettai Pte Ltd.
WazirX, once India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, stopped withdrawals in July 2024 after a $230 million hack targeted wallets managed by Singapore custodian Liminal. The company then carried out a court-supervised restructuring in Singapore, under which users would receive “recovery tokens” and partial refunds once operations resumed.
That plan, approved by Singapore’s High Court earlier this month, has since become the cornerstone of WazirX’s relaunch. But the Madras ruling indicates that Indian users can still seek domestic legal protection even when the company’s legal headquarters are abroad.
For thousands of Indian users still waiting for their tokens from the 2024 WazirX hack, Madras’ decision marks the first tangible victory.
It doesn’t force WazirX to return funds yet, but it recognizes a principle that may define future cases: that crypto belongs to the user, not the exchange.
