CoinDCX Software Engineer Arrested in Connection to $44 Million Hack (Report)

The Indian alternate is the most recent sufferer of unhealthy actors exploiting vulnerabilities and taking management of inside methods, leading to tens of millions of {dollars} being misplaced.

The losses this yr, general, are already within the billions, and, regrettably, proceed to extend at an alarming tempo.

Particulars on What Occurred

An area Indian information outlet, The Instances of India, shared the story about Rahul Agarwal, a workers member of the CoinDCX alternate, whose login info was compromised. He has been taken into custody by Bengaluru authorities, reportedly linked to a ₹379-crore ($44 million) exploit of funds.

The alarm was raised following a grievance by Nebilo Applied sciences, the corporate that runs the alternate. Their Vice President for public coverage, Hardeep Singh, acknowledged the next:

“Rahul had a everlasting function inside the firm, and he was supplied with a laptop computer strictly for work. Our investigation started after we found that an unknown particular person had gained unauthorized entry to our methods on July nineteenth, round 2:30 am, by transferring 1 USDT to an exterior pockets. A number of hours later, round 9:30 a.m., the $44 million was siphoned off and distributed amongst six wallets.

Throughout his questioning by the police, Agarwal maintained his harmless stance, claiming he knew nothing in regards to the hack. Nevertheless, he did admit to “moonlighting” (working a second job outdoors common enterprise hours) with three to 4 personal events, with out totally vetting them. 

It’s additional famous that the accused acquired ₹15 lakh (~$17,000) in his private checking account from an unknown supply. The Bengaluru police additionally level out that Agarwal claimed to have acquired a telephone name from a German telephone quantity, stating he “had just a few information to finish.” 

He believes a type of information was fitted with malware, which granted the attackers entry to CoinDCX’s inside methods, and he remained adamant that he was unaware of what was taking place till the corporate summoned him.

The alternate’s founder and CEO, Sumit Gupta, shared the bitter information of the assault on X, calling it a “refined social engineering assault,” however with out having the ability to disclose any additional info on what had transpired.

Some media studies have surfaced referencing the FIR we filed with the Karnataka Police concerning the safety incident that impacted our platform.

As that is an ongoing investigation, we sadly can’t interact with the media or public on this subject. We wish to make sure the…

— Sumit Gupta (CoinDCX) (@smtgpt) July 31, 2025

Hefty Losses

Sadly, the assaults on crypto exchanges are on the rise, rising in complexity, and the injury to their coffers is critical.

Probably the most notable instance is the hack on Bybit in February, which resulted in a $1.5 billion loss, linked to the North Korean Lazarus Group.

Total, 2025 has seen huge quantities of funds stolen, topping information from earlier years solely in the course of the first half of the yr.

These incidents serve for instance of how geopolitical tensions, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and complicated adversaries proceed to pose a major threat to even well-established cryptocurrency platforms.