CoinDCX, one of India’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, was hit by a sophisticated cyberattack, resulting in the theft of approximately $44.2 million (₹380 crore) from an internal operational account used for liquidity provisioning on a partner exchange. CEO Sumit Gupta and co-founder Neeraj Khandelwal confirmed the breach via posts on X, emphasizing that no customer funds were affected, as the exchange’s customer wallets are securely segregated in cold storage.

The attack, described as a targeted server breach, was first flagged by blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who noted suspicious wallet activity 17 hours before CoinDCX’s public disclosure. The stolen assets, primarily stablecoins USDC and USDT, were moved from the Solana blockchain to Ethereum and funneled through Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer used to obscure transaction trails.

Gupta assured users that CoinDCX’s treasury will fully absorb the loss, stating, “This won’t cause any loss to our customers, and our reserves are sufficiently healthy.” The exchange has restored normal operations, including INR withdrawals and trading, though Web3 trading was briefly paused as a precaution. CoinDCX is collaborating with cybersecurity firms and the partner exchange to trace the funds and has announced plans for a bug bounty program to bolster security.

This marks the second major crypto heist in India within a year, following WazirX’s $230 million loss in July 2024, raising concerns about exchange vulnerabilities.