A few days back major news shook up the crypto world and created a scare amongst the crypto investors. Well, if you are the one who follows news regularly, you might have gone through the heist that took place in the CoinDCX. Well, for those who have no idea, I will explain along with the recent acquisition news which is on the headline and yesterday’s clarification on this acquisition by Sumit Gupta.
Let’s first talk about the heist. Around ₹368 crore ($44 million) was stolen from one of CoinDCX’s internal wallets; this wallet was used for managing liquidity, not customer funds. So, the good news is no customer funds were affected. But the hack itself was serious. The stolen money was moved through different blockchains like Solana and Ethereum and then sent to Tornado Cash, a tool that hides crypto transactions. Some experts even believe that Lazarus Group, a well-known hacker group linked to North Korea, could be behind this. CoinDCX’s CEO, Sumit Gupta, came out quickly with a statement. He confirmed the breach and made it clear that all users are safe; the company will cover the losses from its own funds. They also announced a bounty program worth $11 million for anyone who can help track the hackers. Security systems are also being made stronger.
In the midst of this news and tension at CoinDCX, another piece of news started making headlines. A news item that Coinbase, which is a global crypto exchange, was planning to buy CoinDCX at a much lower price than its previous valuation. Some reports even said Coinbase wants to merge CoinDCX and CoinSwitch. This made people wonder, is CoinDCX in trouble? But again, Sumit Gupta responded strongly. He posted on social media, saying: “Ignore the rumors! CoinDCX is super focused on building India’s crypto story and not up for sale.” Coinbase didn’t confirm anything either but didn’t deny it completely, so that part still remains unclear.
Now we can dig deeper into various angles of the story, but diving deeper into CoinDCX and why these rumors surfaced is important, and also, let’s consider why this breach happened. CoinDCX is one of the top crypto exchanges in India and has been around since 2018. It was started by Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, two founders with strong backgrounds in tech and finance. Over the years, CoinDCX has built a solid reputation for being a secure and easy-to-use platform for anyone looking to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies. What really helped CoinDCX grow fast was how it made crypto trading simple for Indian users. From beginners to experienced traders, the platform caters to all kinds of users with a wide range of coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and many more. It also allows users to trade directly in INR, which means you don’t have to worry about currency conversion or complicated steps. Whether you’re someone just starting or a full-time trader, CoinDCX offers everything from basic spot trading to advanced features like margin and futures trading all in one place. It has become India’s largest crypto exchange platform, and it serves over 15 million registered users, and it provides access to 200+ digital assets. This is the first company to achieve unicorn status among crypto startups. Today it is valued at around $2.15 billion.
Now first let’s start discussing the heist that took place. Well, this is not the first time a crypto exchange has suffered losses due to hacking or theft. Last year another company called “Wazirx” also faced a similar issue, and it even suffered a lot. In July 2024, Wazirx faced a shocking cyberattack. But unlike the recent CoinDCX incident, this time, it wasn’t just an internal wallet or backend vulnerability. Real customer funds were drained. Hackers targeted one of WazirX’s wallets, and within hours, over $234 million (₹2,000 crore) worth of assets vanished. Before the attack, the platform held close to $500 million. That means nearly 45% of total user assets were wiped out overnight. Investigations pointed towards the involvement of the Lazarus Group, a name that’s cropped up in multiple global crypto heists. WazirX admitted the severity of the breach and later confirmed that around 43% of customer assets were unlikely to be recovered. To manage the damage, the company proposed a “socialized loss” model: users would get back around 55% of their stuck funds, with hopes of recovery improving if courts approved a restructuring plan. For some period, everything seemed to be positive but with a revised proposal offering up to 85% recovery. But in June 2025, the Singapore High Court rejected the plan, throwing the entire compensation roadmap into uncertainty again.
So, crypto exchanges faced such kind of attacks globally including in India. But in the case of CoinDCX, the heist is not linked with customers money. So, in this regard, after seeing such massive attacks. Somehow rumors started out. The timing made people go crazy about the acquisition. A hack happened. Then, suddenly, there were talks of a buyout by Coinbase at a lower price. Plus, Coinbase recently increased its presence in India, launching services and looking to expand. Not just that, but in March 2025, Coinbase registered with FIU India, and it was a crucial step to enhance its presence in India. And also, Coinbase has a connection with CoinDCX, as CoinDCX raised around $2.5 million from Polychain Capital along with Coinbase Ventures, the venture capital arm of Coinbase, Inc. So all these reasons put together sparked the rumours.
So, the CoinDCX hack and Coinbase’s India entry led people to speculate that CoinDCX was financially weakened and looking for an exit. But based on public statements and facts, no customer funds were affected; CoinDCX is covering the loss from its own money. Coinbase has shown interest in India anyway, even before the hack. CoinDCX has rejected and confirmed it as a rumour, but there’s no statement from Coinbase yet.
Well, we need to wait and watch how this story turns around. Till then, this is what has happened in the crypto space to date.
