The Great CoinDCX Caper: How $44 Million Went Poof and North Korea Played Detective

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In a plot twist worthy of a soap opera—and possibly a bad one at that—Bengaluru police have finally untangled the tangled mess behind the $44 million crypto heist at India’s beloved (and occasionally gullible) CoinDCX. Spoiler alert: it involves hackers, impersonators, and an overenthusiastic software engineer who probably just wanted to try out the latest malware for fun.

Apparently, these crafty criminals dressed up as *recruiters*—yes, recruiters, because nothing screams “trustworthy” like an email that sounds like it was written by someone who thinks ‘malleable malware’ is a new flavor of ice cream. They then managed to convince poor Rahul Agarwal, a 30-year-old in the prime of his tech life, to install malware on his work laptop. Because clearly, installing shady files off the internet is the best way to land a promotion. 🤦‍♂️

Once inside, the hackers went wild—filling their digital suitcases with cryptocurrencies, roughly worth a cool $44 million—a sum that could buy a small country, or at least a lot of pizza. And, in true “dah-dah-daaa” fashion, Agarwal was promptly detained, probably wondering if he should have just stuck to Excel spreadsheets instead of trying to be a cyber Robin Hood.

According to the wise folks at Cyvers (who apparently have the exact kind of Sherlock instincts you’d want on a crime scene), the bad guys exploited exposed API keys or some misconfigured backend system. Because who doesn’t love a good misconfiguration? It seems Agarwal’s login credentials gave them the key to the kingdom—literally—allowing them to waltz out with the crypto and leave the police scratching their heads. 😵‍💫

Meanwhile, the malware masqueraded as a part-time job—because nothing screams “good idea” like applying for a shady side gig from a sketchy email. This led to the breach of internal wallets at Neblio Technologies, CoinDCX’s operator, turning their digital treasure chest into a digital emptying house. Agarwal kept denying any involvement, probably with the same fervor you’d deny eating the leftover cake, even as his company-owned device was confiscated faster than you can say “You’re under arrest.”

Now, shifting gears faster than a hyper-squirrel on a sugar rush, we turn to Hyperliquid. This shiny crypto fancy-pants, boasting a market cap of $14.59 billion, had its own little mishap—an API outage. Initially blamed on hackers, but in reality, just a traffic spike that made the servers sweat. Because, obviously, all the traffic was just eager traders and bots fighting over who would get to lose money faster. 📉

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any more dramatic, the authorities finger North Korea’s Lazarus Group for the CoinDCX attack. Yes, folks, North Korea’s very own cyber-precision team appears to have been inspired by a mix of espionage movies and bad hacker tutorials. Their modus operandi is suspiciously similar to the earlier Bybit hack—exploiting cross-chain bridges and obscuring trail with Tornado Cash, because who doesn’t enjoy a little digital fog?

To sweeten the deal, CoinDCX has thrown together an $11 million bounty, promising to pay up to 25% of the stolen loot if someone, somewhere, manages to recover the assets. Because, apparently, even digital criminals aren’t immune to the classic “but what if someone returns my stolen bike?” game.

Meanwhile, in the quieter corners of the crypto world, Mint reports that Coinbase might be eyeing an elegant buyout of CoinDCX. Rumors swirl like a lactose-free milkshake—yet, CoinDCX’s boss, Sumit Gupta, took to X (formerly Twitter, for those who missed the memo) to declare, “Ignore the rumours! We’re busy building the future of India’s crypto universe. No, seriously, we’re not selling.”

Just woke up, saw the news, and thought: ah, another day in paradise! 😅

Ignore the noise! CoinDCX is all about India’s crypto story—building, expanding, and probably occasionally fixing the coffee machine.

More news later, but for now—no sale signs on the front lawn!

— Sumit Gupta (@smtgpt) July 29, 2025

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2025-07-31 17:49