By Blockchain News Desk | July 20, 2025



đŸ§© What happened


Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX confirmed on July 19–20 that it was hit by a $44.2 million (â‚č368–379 crore) cyberattack targeting an internal operational liquidity account, not customer wallets mint+7Mitrade+7CoinDesk+7The Economic Times+15Samayam Tamil+15www.ndtv.com+15. The breach took place early Saturday, and was flagged within ~17 hours by blockchain sleuths including ZachXBT mint+4Cryptonews+4AInvest+4.



🔐 How it unfolded


The attacker exploited a "sophisticated server breach" to access private keys linked to a hot wallet reserved for providing liquidity to a partner platform The Economic Times+9Cryptonews+9mint+9. Funds were quickly moved through mixers such as Tornado Cash—starting with 1 ETH—and bridged from Solana to Ethereum to obscure the trail mint+13Cointelegraph+13AInvest+13.



đŸ‘„ User safety & platform functionality


CoinDCX assured users that customer funds are completely safe, secured in segregated cold wallets; only the company’s treasury was affected CoinDesk+15www.ndtv.com+15AInvest+15. Web3 trading was paused briefly as a precaution, but INR deposits, withdrawals, and core trading services remained uninterrupted mint+4AInvest+4www.ndtv.com+4.



đŸ›Ąïž Exchange response


Founders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal confirmed the fallout and pledged that CoinDCX’s treasury reserves would cover the loss Samayam Tamil+15www.ndtv.com+15The Economic Times+15. The company has engaged with cybersecurity firms and law enforcement, launched a bug bounty program, and is cooperating with forensic teams to trace, block, or recover stolen assets www.ndtv.com+6Mitrade+6mint+6.


Gupta also cautioned users on X (formerly Twitter):



“Don’t panic, sell your assets
 Let the markets settle. Stay calm, stay confident.” The Economic Times+3www.ndtv.com+3mint+3




🌐 Broader implications


This hack is the second major Indian exchange breach in a year, following WazirX’s $235 million exploit in July 2024 Cryptonews+9The Economic Times+9CoinDesk+9. It highlights persistent vulnerabilities in centralized crypto platforms, especially around hot wallets and server security Bitcoinist.com+9mint+9The Cryptonomist+9. Analysts say this incident intensifies calls for robust regulatory frameworks, multi-audit protocols, higher cyber hygiene standards, and cautious use of custodial services.



🔍 What to watch next




  • Recovery efforts: Can the blockchain forensics teams trace the stolen assets and execute recoveries?




  • Security upgrades: Are the planned bug bounties and system overhauls enough to bolster long-term resilience?




  • Regulatory momentum: Will Indian authorities accelerate crypto-specific regulations in response?




  • User behaviour: Will such incidents push more investors toward self-custody solutions?





⚠ Key Takeaways at a Glance


Factor Status

Funds lost$44.2 million, covered by CoinDCXreserves

User wallets Safe and unaffected

Services Web3 paused briefly; core service uninterrupted

Exchange response Bug bounty, forensic investigation, trace efforts

Industry context Second major Indian exchange hack in the past year

#HackAlert #DigitalAssets #CryptoAwareness #CoinDCXHack #CryptoBreach2025

$BTC

$BNB

$ETH

Kevin Ku