CoinDCX Employee Arrested After $44M Crypto Theft Via Malware Attack
Rahul Agarwal, an employee of CoinDCX, one of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has been arrested in connection with a $44 million
Quick overview
- Rahul Agarwal, an employee of CoinDCX, was arrested for his alleged involvement in a $44 million cryptocurrency theft linked to malware on his company laptop.
- The breach occurred on July 19, when hackers transferred the stolen funds to six offshore cryptocurrency wallets.
- CoinDCX confirmed that user funds remain safe and are isolated from the attack, while recovery efforts face challenges due to jurisdictional issues and the anonymity of crypto transactions.
- Authorities have filed charges against Agarwal, but the lack of global regulation complicates the recovery of the stolen assets.
Rahul Agarwal, an employee of CoinDCX, one of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has been arrested in connection with a $44 million digital asset theft. Agarwal allegedly became an unwitting pawn in a cybercrime operation after malware was installed on his office laptop, compromising company systems.
According to police on July 30, Agarwal was targeted through a fake part-time job offer which made him use a compromised system. The malware was embedded when he switched from his personal laptop to a company issued device. At 2:37 a.m. on July 19, hackers executed the theft and transferred the stolen funds to 6 different cryptocurrency wallets.
Wallet Breach Triggers $44M Crypto Heist
The breach happened through CoinDCX’s operational wallet on the Solana blockchain as first reported by Bitcoin.com . Although the loss is huge, user funds are safe, according to CoinDCX CEO Sumit Gupta who confirmed that customer wallets were isolated from the attack vector.
The company is working with other exchanges to recover the diverted funds but it seems unlikely to happen due to jurisdictional and technical barriers.
Key points:
- Amount stolen: $44 million
- Breach time: 2:37 a.m. IST, July 19
- Infected device: CoinDCX company laptop
- Part-time job earnings: ₹1.44 lakh (~ $17,235)
- Number of destination wallets: 6, all offshore
The internal investigation found Agarwal had no knowledge of the heist and was unaware of the malware till after the breach.
Crypto Regulation Gap Hinders Recovery
Authorities say recovering the funds will be very difficult, mainly due to the anonymity of crypto wallets and lack of global regulation. The wallets used in the transfer are believed to be hosted outside India making legal intervention even more challenging.
Police have filed charges under IT Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for cyber fraud, unauthorized access and data manipulation. But now the focus is on the regulatory gaps that allow digital assets to be moved across borders undetected.
“If this were a bank transfer, we could trace it,” an officer said. “But with crypto, without cooperation from exchanges, tracing is almost impossible.”Until crypto regulation happens.
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