A 30-year-old software engineer working at CoinDCX has been arrested in connection with the massive $44 million cryptocurrency theft that shocked India’s crypto industry.
According to a Times of India, Bengaluru City Police detained Rahul Agarwal on July 26 after a complaint was filed by Neblio Technologies, the parent firm of CoinDCX, one of India’s leading crypto exchanges.
On July 19, at around 2:37 am, hackers initiated an unauthorized transfer of 1 USDT from CoinDCX’s system. By 9:40 am, nearly $44 million worth of crypto had been siphoned off into six unknown wallets.
Rahul Agarwal, a resident of Carmelaram in Bengaluru and originally from Haridwar, was a full-time employee at CoinDCX. He had been given a company laptop to use in the office only. It was found out that his log in details were stolen, and hackers had access to the company servers.
Police say Agarwal received $17,116 in his bank account from unknown sources. During interrogation, he admitted to moonlighting for 3–4 private clients whose identities he couldn’t confirm. He also revealed receiving a WhatsApp call from a German number and files that may have been used as bait to infect his system.
Whitefield CEN Crime Police are probing further. Agarwal insists he didn’t know about the hack until CoinDCX called him in. Nevertheless, the questionable transfers and his freelance activity without permission made investigators suspicious.
The breach is one of the biggest crypto thefts in India. The case highlights growing cybersecurity concerns in the crypto sector and raises questions about internal access control at exchanges like CoinDCX.
Also Read: CoinDCX Denies Coinbase Buyout Rumors After $44M Hack
