CoinDCX staffer arrested for alleged involvement in $44 million hack

Earlier this month, a data breach at major crypto exchange CoinDCX sent shockwaves through India’s crypto ecosystem. In a fresh development, the Bengaluru police has arrested a staff member from CoinDCX’s team to probe his alleged involvement in the incident.

Neblio Technologies, that operates its crypto business under the CoinDCX branding, reached out to the investigating authorities seeking a probe on Rahul Agarwal, a software engineer working with the exchange.

In its statement, the company reportedly said that Agarwal’s company-provided laptop was the originating point of the attack on July 19.

Citing internal investigation, CoinDCX told the police that the hacker had managed to steal $44 million from the exchange and transferred the sum to six wallets.

Agarwal’s laptop has been confiscated by the investigating officials for the next leg of the probe. The suspect, however, has denied any involvement in this hack attack on CoinDCX.

The police have found evidence of the 30-year-old engineer being contacted by a Germany-based number. In other evidence, a suspicious deposit of Rs. 15 lakh into his account has also raised questions around his claims of not being associated with the incident.

Speaking to CoinHeadlines, a CoinDCX spokesperson said more details on the case are confidential as the investigation is ongoing.

“we are unable to share further details at this point to ensure the integrity of the process is not compromised. We urge the media and the public to avoid speculation or the circulation of unverified information, as it may impede the ongoing investigation,” the company representative said.

If Agarwal is found guilty, the hack of CoinDCX facilitated by a company employee would make for the second such case in India this year.

Earlier this year, Coinbase had admitted to have suffered a customer data leak that, the company estimated, would cost it as much as $400 million. At the time, the U.S.-based exchange had claimed that its third party contractors and employees in India were bribed by cyber criminals to leak sensitive user information. The exchange had further said that the personnel who were identified to be part of the data leak were fired with immediate effect.