Important Highlights
- Yes, CoinDCX was hacked but your funds are safe.
- $44 million was stolen, and the exchange would cover the loss from its own treasure.
- The breach followed a similar pattern to the WazirX hack, though no connection has been confirmed.
CoinDCX Hacked? Here’s What Really Happened
Early Saturday morning, something went wrong at CoinDCX one of India’s top crypto exchanges.
A staggering $44 million was drained from the platform after what CEO Sumit Gupta later described as a “sophisticated server breach.”
But here’s the good news:
No customer funds were touched. That’s right your crypto is still safe if you’re a CoinDCX user.
According to Sumit Gupta, the loss originated from an internal account that was utilized for partner exchange liquidity provisioning.
Additionally, CoinDCX will pay the full amount out of its own treasury rather than passing the cost on to users.
Sounds like a relief, right? But the story doesn’t stop there.
CoinDCX Hacked? Detected by a Blockchain Sleuth, Not the Exchange
What’s raising eyebrows is how the breach came to light. CoinDCX didn’t notice it at first or at least didn’t say anything publicly.
Instead, it was ZachXBT, a well-known on-chain investigator, who flagged it nearly 17 hours later.
He spotted suspicious activity involving a wallet that turned out to be linked to CoinDCX.
The attacker had used Tornado Cash to mix their funds and later moved some stolen crypto from Solana to Ethereum a classic move to hide the trail.
Within 10 minutes of ZachXBT posting about the breach on X (formerly Twitter), Gupta confirmed what many had already started to suspect: CoinDCX had been hacked.
He posted ”To retrieve property, we are collaborating with our partner exchange. Additionally, a bug-fighting program is on the horizon to bolster our security even more.”
CoinDCX Hacked? The Timing Couldn’t Be Worse
This attack comes almost exactly a year after WazirX, another major Indian crypto exchange, was hacked for over $230 million.
That incident led to WazirX shutting down completely.
In addition, there is currently no verified relationship between the COINDCX hack and the Lazarus Group, which is a cyber crime organization associated with North Korea, although they were associated with that attack.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to ignore similarities. Both were Indian platforms. Both happened in July. And both involved large amounts of crypto moving across chains through mixers.
CoinDCX, for its part, has grown fast. It became India’s first crypto unicorn in 2021, later acquiring Dubai-based BitOasis in 2024 as part of its global expansion. This hack could pose a challenge to its ambitions, though.
CoinDCX’s Withdrawal Rules: Tight for Users, But Still Breached
CoinDCX is known for its strict withdrawal policies. Users can’t just take out crypto whenever they want they need to pass internal risk assessments first.
According to Sumit Gupta, this is to stop illegal fund movement.
In a Reddit AMA earlier this year, he said:
“Withdrawals are not enabled by default. We only allow it after enhanced due diligence.”
While this policy might sound safe on paper, many are now questioning how a platform this cautious still got hit.
CoinDCX has long promoted its multi-layered security, including a $7 million insurance fund (small compared to the $44M stolen), monthly proof-of-reserve reports, and partnerships with custodians.
In June, the exchange reported over $584 million in total holdings and nearly 20 million registered users. So clearly, it’s a big player but even big players can bleed.