On July 26, Bengaluru police arrested Rahul Agarwal, a 30-year-old CoinDCX software engineer, linked to a $44 million (₹379 crore) cryptocurrency theft from the exchange’s internal wallet. Agarwal, employed at CoinDCX for over two years, allegedly had his company laptop’s credentials compromised, enabling the heist.
The breach started on July 19 with a test transfer of 1 USDT at 2:37 a.m., followed by $44 million moved to six wallets by mid-morning. Authorities claim Agarwal freelanced for unknown clients via WhatsApp, including a German number, and received ₹15 lakh (~$17,000). Malware is suspected to have infected his device.
CoinDCX’s parent, Neblio Technologies, confirmed no customer funds were affected, as the wallet was separate from user assets. The exchange offered an up to $11 million bounty for recovery leads.
🔐 What’s at Risk
Experts highlight a rising trend of social engineering attacks targeting privileged employees to breach sensitive systems. A Reddit user noted:
“He’s more victim than culprit. Credential theft exposes weak access controls. Fix the system, not just the person.”
Neblio called it a “sophisticated social engineering attack” and is aiding the investigation. The breach’s scale raises concerns about crypto exchange security, especially in emerging markets, potentially prompting stricter regulations.
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