&w=3840&q=100)
CoinDCX offers up to 25% recovery bounty after $44.2 mn crypto theft
New Delhi
Cryptocurrency exchange platform CoinDCX has unveiled a recovery bounty initiative after a security breach that led to the theft of $44.2 million (around ₹378 crore) from its treasury. The platform will offer up to 25 per cent of recovered funds as a reward to those who assist in retrieving the stolen assets and identifying the culprits.
The CoinDCX Recovery Bounty Programme, announced on Monday, invites ethical hackers, white-hat researchers, and ecosystem partners to collaborate in the investigation. The company said the aim is not only to recover funds but also to 'rally the Web3 community in the fight against cybercrime'.
According to the statement, the potential bounty pool could amount to as much as $11 million, provided full recovery is achieved.
Internal account breach, not customer wallets
The breach, which was announced on Saturday (July 19), involved unauthorised access to one of CoinDCX's operational accounts used for liquidity provisioning on a partner exchange. Co-founder and CEO Sumit Gupta clarified that the compromised account was isolated and that customer funds were never at risk.
'The affected operational account is segregated from customer wallets. The entire loss will be absorbed by us using our treasury reserves,' said Gupta in a post on X.
Announcing the @CoinDCX Recovery Bounty Program: Up to 25% of any recovered funds will be awarded to individuals or teams who can help trace and retrieve the stolen crypto. Just to give more context: -> We want to be upfront. The exposure was from our own reserves, and we have… https://t.co/GHHlxf3PxB
— Sumit Gupta (CoinDCX) (@smtgpt) July 21, 2025
Co-founder Neeraj Khandelwal echoed the reassurance, saying, 'Our first and foremost objective throughout the day has been to secure assets. Coindcx Treasury will be bearing these losses.'
Funds routed via Solana and Ethereum
Preliminary investigations revealed that the stolen assets were moved through Solana-Ethereum bridges and later consolidated into 4,443 ETH (roughly $15.7 million) and 155,830 SOL (valued at $27.6 million). These funds are currently dormant, and CoinDCX is working with partners to freeze and recover them.
As part of its response, the firm is collaborating with global cybersecurity experts, CERT-In (India's Computer Emergency Response Team), and partner exchanges. A detailed forensic report will be made public upon completion of the investigation.
Following the attack, users reported issues accessing their portfolios, which CoinDCX attributed to server load caused by increased traffic. The firm has since scaled its server capacity, and access has been restored.
'We have significantly enhanced server capacity to serve users better,' Khandelwal said in a follow-up post.
Part of a larger pattern?
The CoinDCX incident follows a similar attack on WazirX, another Indian exchange, which suffered a $230–235 million breach in July 2024. In that case, WazirX proposed a socialised loss solution that returned only partial funds to users, drawing criticism from the crypto community.
Founded in 2018, CoinDCX claims to have over 16 million users and recorded $492 million in spot trading volume in May 2025, with Bitcoin and Ethereum leading trades.
CoinDCX has said that the breach is a moment of reckoning, not retreat. 'Every security incident is a learning experience. We will come out stronger and work with the community to secure the industry,' said Gupta.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
16 minutes ago
- India.com
Despite Trump's 25% Tariff, How India Still Beats Pakistan, Bangladesh On Trade Balance
New Delhi: Even as U.S. tariffs on Indian goods climb to 25 percent, the numbers tell a more layered story. Despite the blow, India still holds a stronger position in trade dynamics than some of its closest neighbours. In 2024, Indian products entering the American market faced an average effective tariff of 17.4 percent. That is lower than the 19.9 percent slapped on Bangladeshi goods, the 18.1 percent faced by Pakistan and Sri Lanka's 19.2 percent. These figures come from a recent analysis by Moneycontrol that measured the effective duties levied by the United States on major South Asian exporters. U.S. President Donald Trump, who reimposed tough trade penalties last month, had pointed fingers at India in a strongly worded post on July 30. 'Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the world. They have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers of any country… INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST,' he wrote on Truth Social. However, data on what economists call the tariff differential, the gap between what a country pays in U.S. tariffs versus what it charges on American imports, suggests India's trade relationship with Washington remains more balanced than many others in the region. India's tariff differential currently stands at 11.3 percentage points. That is significantly narrower than Bangladesh's 17.2-point gap or Pakistan's 13.6 points. Another regional exporter, Vietnam faces a 13-point spread. Bangladesh's position appears the most lopsided: its exports are hit by the highest U.S. tariffs, but it barely charges American goods in return. Meanwhile, India maintains an average 6.1 percent tariff on U.S. imports, more than Bangladesh but less than others, offering a cushion against the recent spike from Washington. Neighbouring Asian countries such as Thailand and the Philippines fare slightly better in terms of tariff balance, with gaps at 6.4 and 9.8 points respectively. But their trade mix is different, heavily skewed towards electronics and intermediate goods. India's exports to the United States, on the other hand, lean heavily on pharmaceuticals, garments, jewellery and consumer products. These sectors are more vulnerable to tariff hikes. While India's trade ties with Washington remain under strain, the data reflects that it may still be navigating the turbulence more stably than its regional peers.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
'Unreasonable': India hits back at Trump tirade on Russian oil
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (ANI file photo) In its first direct public pushback against US President Donald Trump's repeated targeting of India over trade with Russia, the Centre termed his criticism "unjustified and unreasonable". It said like any major economy, New Delhi will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security. In an official statement, ministry of external affairs said the US itself continues to import uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry and fertilisers as well as chemicals from Russia. The response, a rare outpouring of frustration with Trump's rants, followed another outburst by the US president in which he accused India of buying massive amounts of Russian Oil and selling it in the open market for big profits, while threatening to substantially raise tariffs on imports from India. MEA added that India's imports are meant to ensure predictable and affordable energy costs to Indian consumers and are a necessity compelled by global market situation. "...It is revealing that the very nations criticising India in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion," said spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
US effective tariff on Indian goods jumped to 20.7% from 2.4% last year: Fitch Ratings
Synopsis Fitch Ratings reports a significant increase in US tariffs on Indian goods by 2025. This rise to 20.7% from 2.4% may hinder India's economic expansion. Goldman Sachs has already lowered India's growth forecasts. HDFC Bank also anticipates a GDP growth reduction. Moody's Ratings suggests potential challenges for India's manufacturing sector. However, India's economy is expected to remain resilient. Agencies New Delhi: The US effective tariff rate on Indian goods rose to 20.7% in 2025, up from 2.4% in 2024, due to the addition of an 18.3 percentage point increase this year, according to Fitch Ratings. The increase in tariffs poses some downside risk to India's economic growth. Overall, the US effective tariff rate is now 17%, around 8 percentage points lower than April 3 estimate, when higher reciprocal tariffs were originally announced, it said on Monday. "The US tariff rate of 17% reflects a 15% tariff rate on EU goods, including auto and auto parts, and higher tariffs for major trading partners Brazil, Taiwan, India and Switzerland," it added. Last week, US President Donald Trump announced 25% tariff on Indian goods, along with an unspecified additional penalty related to India's energy dealings with Russia. Goldman Sachs on Monday cut India's economic growth forecast to 6.5% for 2025 and 6.4% for 2026, due to US tariffs. "In our view, some of these tariffs are likely to be negotiated lower over time, and further downside risk to the growth trajectory mainly emanates from the uncertainty, " it to HDFC Bank, the tariff poses a downside risk of 20-25 bps to India's GDP growth. Christian de Guzman, senior vice president, Moody's Ratings, said, "Curtailed access to the largest economy globally diminishes prospects for India's ambitions to develop its manufacturing sector, particularly in higher value-added sectors such as electronics".He, however, added, "India's economy is expected to remain resilient as it is less trade-reliant than other large economies in the Asia-Pacific."
