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Business Standard
a day ago
- Business
- Business Standard
CoinDCX joins list of the biggest crypto breaches in recent times
In a major breach on July 18, Mumbai-based cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX confirmed a hacking attack that resulted in a loss of approximately $44 million (nearly Rs 368 crore). The incident targeted an internal operational account used for liquidity operations on a partner exchange. The affected account, the company clarified, did not hold any customer assets. Sumit Gupta, co-founder of CoinDCX, described the breach as "sophisticated", revealing that hackers had exploited a server vulnerability. He further stated that the financial loss would be absorbed through the company's treasury reserves, which are 'sufficiently healthy' to cover the damage. The CoinDCX attack comes amid a broader wave of crypto hacks globally, once again raising questions about the actual security of blockchain-based platforms. While blockchains themselves are designed to be secure, the surrounding infrastructure — including wallets, bridges, exchanges, and operational accounts — continues to face vulnerabilities. According to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, over $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen in 2023, following a record $3.8 billion in 2022. Which were the largest crypto hacks? The biggest theft in the sector's history remains the $625 million hack of the Ronin Network in March 2022. This breach targeted the Axie Infinity blockchain game, with hackers — later linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group — making off with Ether and stablecoins. Only a small portion of the stolen funds was recovered. Following closely is the Poly Network hack of August 2021, where over $611 million was stolen. In a rare twist, the anonymous hacker returned most of the funds, claiming the act was carried out 'for fun.' The Binance BNB Bridge suffered a $569 million breach in October 2022 due to a flaw in its smart contract, while Japan's Coincheck exchange lost $532 million in 2018 through vulnerabilities in its hot wallets. In November 2022, FTX, once a major player in the crypto world, lost over $477 million on the same day it filed for bankruptcy. The company confirmed the hack on its Telegram channel, even warning users to delete its apps. Why are cross-chain bridges and DeFi platforms popular targets? A common pattern across recent breaches is the targeting of cross-chain bridges — platforms that allow cryptocurrencies to be transferred between different blockchains. The Wormhole attack in February 2022 resulted in a $325 million theft, while Nomad Bridge lost $190 million shortly after. In March 2023, Euler Finance, a DeFi lending platform, suffered a $197 million flash loan attack. Surprisingly, the attacker later returned much of the stolen funds, citing safety concerns. In May 2024, Japan's DMM Bitcoin exchange reported a $305 million theft, with Lazarus Group again suspected. Bybit, a major global exchange, disclosed a $1.5 billion breach in February, marking one of the largest losses to date. In July last year, India's WazirX suffered a $230 million theft — one of the biggest cyberattacks on an Indian exchange. Many of the affected 15 million investors reportedly faced severe financial hardship. Meanwhile, Iran's largest exchange, Nobitex, lost $90 million amid geopolitical tensions. The stolen funds carried messages allegedly criticising Iran's Revolutionary Guard. How do hackers launder stolen crypto? Tracking stolen crypto assets remains a key challenge. In the WazirX case, Netherlands-based Crystal Intelligence revealed that most of the stolen funds were laundered via TornadoCash, an open-source platform known for anonymising transactions. Only around $6 million remains traceable. Are blockchain projects truly secure? Despite claims of blockchain being 'ultra-secure', repeated cyberattacks suggest otherwise. In 2024, around $2.2 billion worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen. This followed losses of $1.7 billion in 2023 and $3.8 billion in 2022, according to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. The figures continue to expose vulnerabilities across exchanges, cross-chain bridges, and decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms. The trend continued into 2024, with fresh breaches reported globally. Even established exchanges like Coinbase have not been immune. In May this year, it estimated losses between $180 million and $400 million following a cyberattack that exploited insider leaks. The company confirmed that multiple contractors and employees working outside the US were paid by hackers to gather internal data. State-sponsored actors, especially North Korea's Lazarus Group, continue to dominate the crypto hacking space. The group has been linked to major breaches, including Ronin, DM Bitcoin, and Bybit. Is crypto security a myth? Experts suggest that while blockchain technology itself may offer robust security features, the infrastructure surrounding it — including bridges, exchanges, and DeFi platforms — has repeatedly proven vulnerable. With evolving tactics such as flash loan attacks, insider threats and state-backed cyber warfare, the future is shaping up to be grim for cryptocurrency security.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Mid-year update: Crypto thefts top $2.17 billion in 2025, shows data
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Crypto thefts in 2025 had already crossed USD 2.17 billion before last week's USD 44 million CoinDCX hack , underlining relentless cyber threat escalation in the digital currency world, according to the latest analytics platform Chainalysis ' 2025 crypto crime mid-year update says that over USD 2.17 billion was stolen from cryptocurrency services so far in 2025, and "this year is more devastating than the entirety of 2024".By the end of June 2025, 17 per cent more value had been stolen year-to-date (YTD) than in 2022, previously the worst year on $1.5 billion hack of ByBit, the largest single hack in crypto history, accounts for the majority of service far in 2025, significant concentrations of stolen fund victims have emerged in the US, Germany, Russia, Canada, Japan, Indonesia, and South Korea, it said."Regionally, Eastern Europe, MENA, and CSAO (Central and Southern Asia and Oceania) saw the most rapid H1 2024 to H1 2025 growth in victim totals," it report revealed that threat actors who have compromised services tend to exhibit higher levels of sophistication than those targeting personal USD 1.5 billion, the ByBit hack not only represents the largest crypto theft in history, but also accounts for approximately 69 per cent of all funds stolen from services this year, Chainalysis said."The sophistication and scale of this attack underscore the evolving capabilities of state-sponsored threat actors in the crypto space, and comes after a notable slowdown in the second half of 2024," it report assumes significance in the backdrop of Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX suffering a security breach, resulting in theft of USD 44.2 million, or Rs 378 co-founders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal took to the social media platform X to reassure that customer funds remained unaffected and safe, with the compromise limited to an internal operational total exposure is being absorbed entirely by CoinDCX, using the company's treasury reserves, the company said in a First Incident Report released on year, crypto exchange WazirX faced a hack in India, leading to the loss of more than USD 230 million, and marking one of the biggest such heists in India. The theft had prompted a thorough examination of safety measures and eroded other notable cryptocurrency thefts are those involving Cetus Protocol, which saw losses estimated between USD 200-260 million in May this year, and BigONE, which suffered a theft of USD 27 million in July 2025.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Crypto security: Crypto thefts in 2025 surpass $2.17 billion; India's CoinDCX breach adds to global surge driven by ByBit mega heist
Crypto thefts have crossed a staggering $2.17 billion in the first half of 2025, already eclipsing the full-year toll of 2024, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. The sharp spike in crypto-related crime highlights growing vulnerabilities in digital asset platforms, with large-scale, sophisticated attacks becoming increasingly frequent. The figure, which excludes last week's $44.2 million (Rs 378 crore) breach at Indian exchange CoinDCX, marks a 17% jump in year-to-date (YTD) losses over 2022—the previous worst year for crypto thefts, PTI reported. Chainalysis' mid-year crypto crime report attributes the majority of these losses to the $1.5 billion ByBit exploit, the single largest crypto hack in history. That attack alone accounted for nearly 69% of total crypto service thefts in 2025. "The sophistication and scale of this attack underscore the evolving capabilities of state-sponsored threat actors in the crypto space, and comes after a notable slowdown in the second half of 2024," the report said. The report identifies major victim regions as the US, Germany, Russia, Canada, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea. Eastern Europe, MENA, and Central and Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) saw the most rapid growth in the number of victims from H1 2024 to H1 2025. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo In India, CoinDCX confirmed in its First Incident Report on Sunday that the breach was limited to an internal operational account, and all customer funds remained secure. 'The total exposure is being absorbed entirely by CoinDCX, using the company's treasury reserves,' co-founders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal said on social media platform X. The CoinDCX incident comes less than a year after WazirX lost over $230 million in a cyberattack, prompting scrutiny of crypto platform security in India. Other major global hacks this year include Cetus Protocol (losses of $200–260 million in May) and BigONE (a $27 million theft in July), Chainalysis noted. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
International Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- International Business Times
$44.2 Million Drained from CoinDCX Crypto Exchange in the Biggest Crypto Heist of 2025
July 21, 2025 17:05 +08 CoinDCX, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in India, disclosed a significant security breach. Hackers stole approximately $44.2 million when they obtained access to one of the company's internal accounts. This account was available to facilitate trading in an orderly manner by providing liquidity. X Well-known hacker ZachXBT first noticed this problem. He discovered the breach 17 hours after it occurred. CoinDCX quickly quarantined the impacted account and prevented further loss. The exchange confirmed that the wallets containing users' funds were not impacted. Existing users can still withdraw funds and deposit funds to trade. As a precaution, the platform temporarily had disabled its Web3 mode, meaning users can access over 50,000 decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens. The feature was later restored. The company will cover the entire loss using its own funds, CoinDCX CEO Sumit Gupta said. "No customer funds were lost. Our treasury is capable enough to bear this," Gupta wrote in a social media post. And their in-house team, working with outside cybersecurity experts, is trying to figure out how the hack occurred and where the stolen funds have ended up, he added. This is one of the biggest crypto hacks of 2025. Hackers have taken more than $2 billion in cryptocurrencies so far this year, according to a report from Chainalysis. The increasingly large sample is generating some serious concerns about the security of the cryptocurrency exchanges. To further enhance security on the platform, CoinDCX intends to roll out a bug bounty program. The program will pay by-the-book hackers who report weaknesses before they're used to loot the system. The platform is also working together with partner platforms to monitor and recover the stolen funds. However, despite the setback, CoinDCX has announced that user funds are safe and operations are normal. The company says it's still committed to transparency and bolstering its systems against future threats.
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
UAE: Crypto scam victims on average lost nearly Dh300,000 each
Approximately $80,000 (Dh293,600) was stolen from each crypto victim of the UAE, the highest globally, during the first half of 2025, according to an analysis by Chainalysis. This has prompted analysts to call for using best techniques to store cryptocurrencies efficiently. According to EC-Council University, investors in UAE and around the world should choose the right wallet as a first step to safeguard their crypto. In addition, they are advised that hardware wallets are the best option, while a paper wallet is an offline solution for securely storing cryptocurrency. It involves generating a document that contains the investor's public and private keys. They also advised strengthening passwords, implementing two-factor authentication, being aware of phishing scams, keeping software updated, safeguarding private keys, backing up the wallet, diversifying the storage and securing the network, among others. According to a global blockchain analytics company's data, victims in the USA came second, followed by victims in Chile, India, Lithuania, Japan, Iran, Israel, Norway and Germany. The UAE has one of the highest crypto adoptions in the world. Nearly 30 per cent of UAE residents own cryptocurrency, followed by Vietnam, the US, Iran, the Philippines, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Ukraine, according to data published by Voronoi, quoting Trip-A. With a score of 45.7 (regarding interest of residents in crypto), the UAE has been ranked third globally after Singapore (50.2) and Switzerland (46.9), said Henley and Partners. 'The UAE stands out as a leading jurisdiction for crypto investors, with its strong public adoption score evidencing a vibrant interest in the crypto ecosystem. The Middle Eastern powerhouse also offers favourable tax policies and a high level of economic stability,' it said. Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth, said Dubai is home to 6,500 technology millionaires as of June 2024, mainly in fintech, crypto and software development. This comes as Bitcoin hit an all-time high of over $120,000 earlier this week. On Sunday morning, it was trading at $117,860, while total market capitalisation stood at $3.87 trillion. Globally, Chainalysis said over $2.17 billion was stolen from cryptocurrency services so far in 2025, higher than the entirety of 2024. North Korea's $1.5 billion hack of ByBit, the largest single hack in crypto history, accounted for the majority of service losses. Regionally, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), and Central & Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) regions saw the most rapid increase in growth in victim totals. North America dominated both bitcoin and altcoin theft, ranking first in both categories. This concentration likely reflects the region's high crypto adoption rates and the operation of threat actors capable of targeting large individual holdings. Europe leads the world in ether and stablecoin theft, potentially indicating some combination of either adoption rates for these assets or an attacker's preference for more liquid, easily transferable assets. Asia Pacific ranked second in terms of total Bitcoin stolen and third in terms of stolen Ethereum, whereas CSAO ranked second in terms of stolen altcoin and stolen stablecoin value. Fairly consistently, Sub-Saharan Africa ranked the lowest in terms of value stolen (second to last in terms of compromised BTC), which is most likely indicative of lower wealth levels in this region and not necessarily a signal of lower victimisation rates among crypto users.
