Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX co-founders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal were reportedly detained for questioning by Thane Police after a complaint alleging their involvement in a crypto investment fraud, according to reports in The Economic Times and local media including Entrackr. Some outlets said the pair were arrested, while others reported they were only called in for questioning.
The matter centers on a website that allegedly impersonated the CoinDCX platform. A 42-year-old insurance consultant filed a first information report (FIR), saying they lost about 71 lakh Indian rupees (roughly $75,000) after being lured to invest via the fake site, according to the Times of India.
CoinDCX posted on X that the FIR was “false and filed as a conspiracy” by impersonators posing as its founders and redirecting funds to third-party accounts that the exchange said had no connection to CoinDCX. The company described brand impersonation and cyber fraud as growing issues in India’s digital finance space and said it is fully cooperating with law enforcement while focusing on user education and awareness.
Between April 1, 2024, and Jan. 5, 2026, CoinDCX said it reported more than 1,212 websites impersonating its coindcx.com domain, underlining the scale of phishing and impersonation attacks targeting Indian crypto users.
The case arrives amid a wider rise in online investment fraud in India. Data cited from the Ministry of Home Affairs in Insights IAS shows investment scams accounted for 76% of all financial losses in 2025. Globally, Web3 platforms lost roughly $3.95 billion to hacks and exploits in 2025, according to industry trackers.
Founded in 2018 and based in Mumbai, CoinDCX is one of India’s best-known crypto trading platforms. It was valued at about $2.45 billion after an investment from Coinbase Ventures in October 2025. The exchange has faced security scrutiny before: in July 2025 attackers stole roughly $44 million from an internal operational account, an incident CoinDCX said did not affect customer assets.
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