CoinDCX has denied reports alleging that the company is being acquired by Coinbase, highlighting its commitment to India’s crypto market.
The Indian crypto exchange dismisses the rumours circulating in Indian media, which came days after a security breach that led to a USD 44 million loss, raising questions about CoinDCX’s valuation. The company addressed the claims made by the Indian news outlet Mint on the social media platform X, saying that it is focused on building its presence in India as a global Web3 provider.
Rumours following a security breach
Mint’s report cited two sources and claimed that Coinbase was in advanced talks to buy CoinDCX for almost USD 1 billion, holding equity stakes in both the company and its rival CoinSwitch. Coinbase chose neither to confirm nor to deny the rumours, but a spokesperson said that the company continually seeks opportunities to build, buy, partner, and invest across global markets.
This happened days after CoinDCX lost USD 44.2 million in a security breach. Hackers accessed an operational wallet used for liquidity provisioning and stole funds in minutes. In this context, only internal wallets were affected, with customer funds in cold wallets remaining secure. Afterwards, the company received over 31,000 withdrawal requests post-attack. CoinDCX launched a bug bounty programme, offering up to 25% of any recovered funds, capped at USD 11 million.
It is speculated that attackers used Tornado Cash and cross-chain bridges to obfuscate transactions, according to ZachXBT. Despite the setback, the company stabilised operations using its treasury reserves to cover losses and announced stricter security protocols moving forward.
In 2021, CoinDCX was valued at USD 2.2 billion. However, reports suggest that acquisition talks, if real, were valuing it at under USD 1 billion. This decrease highlights a market cooldown and reputational impact from the recent attack. Despite the recent issues, the firm continues to be a prevalent presence in the Indian crypto space, with over 13 million registered users, being a potential target for businesses looking to scale fast in South Asia.
