India Court Declares Crypto Property, Halts WazirX’s XRP Redistribution
A big win for crypto holders in India: the Madras High Court has declared that cryptocurrencies are property under Indian Law.
Quick overview
- The Madras High Court has ruled that cryptocurrencies are considered property under Indian law, establishing important rights for digital asset holders.
- This decision arose from a hack on WazirX that resulted in a loss of $234 million, leading the court to protect user assets rather than allow the exchange to redistribute losses.
- Justice Venkatesh emphasized that cryptocurrencies, while intangible, are still owned and enjoyed like any other investment.
- The ruling sets a new standard for investor protection in India's cryptocurrency market and clarifies the responsibilities of exchanges as custodians of user assets.
A big win for crypto holders in India: the Madras High Court has declared that cryptocurrencies are property under Indian Law.
The Madras High Court has made history by confirming that cryptocurrencies qualify as property in Indian law, setting an important precedent for the rights of digital asset holders. This landmark decision has significant implications for consumer protection & investor rights in India’s expanding virtual money landscape.
The court’s verdict came in response to a hack on Indian exchange WazirX in July last year, which wiped out $234 million from user accounts. The judge, Justice N Anand Venkatesh, ruled out WazirX’s plan to redistribute user assets to offset its losses, a plan that drew strong reactions from users.
Protecting the assets of a retail investor who held 3,532 XRP tokens, the court rejected WazirX’s approach to make users bear the cost of the platform’s losses – what WazirX had termed the ‘socialization of losses’.
As Justice Venkatesh so aptly put it, ” Crypto might not be something you can hold in your hand, but it’s still a property that can be owned and enjoyed the same way as any other investment.”
- Hack value: $234 million
- User assets protected: 3,532 XRP tokens
- Key takeaway: Indian law now formally recognizes and protects crypto assets as personal property
This marks one of India’s clearest acknowledgments of digital asset ownership to date. And it sets out a clear framework for exchanges to be seen as custodians of assets they hold on behalf of users.
🚨 JUST IN: India’s Madras High Court declares crypto as “property”! 💎
WazirX ordered to post $11.8K guarantee over a user’s #XRP lost in the 2024 $235M hack.
A major win for crypto rights globally! 🌍#Crypto #XRP #Ripple #Blockchain pic.twitter.com/uCIxv0gURO— The Ripple Mo (@sphinxhead_21) October 28, 2025
A Big Win for Crypto Holders in India
Industry insiders were ecstatic about the ruling, saying that it sets a new benchmark for investor protection and lays down the law for exchanges to follow in the Indian digital asset market.
“This ruling creates a much clearer direction for investor rights in cryptocurrency and paves the way for exchanges to offer better protections,” said Sudhakar Lakshmanaraja from the Digital South Trust in an interview.
Justice Venkatesh also ruled out WazirX’s claim that its restructuring in Singapore had any bearing on Indian law. What he said really resonated with many users. He basically said that, because users were accessing the exchange from India, Indian law applied, and their assets were protected under domestic law.
WazirX Faces Pressure
In a related development, the court has given the thumbs down to WazirX’s proposal to make users share its losses, likening it to a group insurance scheme for people working together. The court quite rightly said this kind of policy just wasn’t something that exchanges were allowed to do.
That comes as the exchange tries to get back to normal after a deal that received creditor approval from 95.7 percent of its creditors, but has left many users on edge about their money, what with delays and not getting their full funds back.
India’s overall approach to cryptocurrency remains hazy, with profits taxed heavily and ownership still not clearly defined by the government. As Justice Venkatesh said, “the courts are now the stage where the future of cryptocurrency is being debated.”
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