Coinbase is in advanced talks to acquire CoinDCX after a $44M hack, offering less than half of what CoinDCX was valued at in the last bull market.
Summary
- Coinbase is negotiating to acquire CoinDCX for under $1 billion, deepening its investment in India’s crypto sector.
- CoinDCX recently lost $44 million in a major hack, raising questions about operational risk and trust.
- The acquisition would help Coinbase build a stronger presence in India ahead of upcoming crypto regulations.
Coinbase is allegedly in advanced negotiations to acquire CoinDCX, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, as the U.S. firm seeks to grow its presence in one of the world’s fastest-growing crypto markets.
The deal, first reported by Indian media Livemint on July 29, could value CoinDCX at under $1 billion, down sharply from its 2021 peak of $2.2 billion.
Coinbase’s strategic bet on India
For Coinbase, the deal would mark its second major acquisition this year, following the $2.9 billion purchase of Deribit. It also follows smaller M&A activity with crypto startups Liquifi, Spindl, and Iron Fish. Coinbase already holds equity stakes in both CoinDCX and its competitor CoinSwitch.
The acquisition would accelerate Coinbase’s re-entry into India after securing a Financial Intelligence Unit license in March. The company briefly launched operations in the country in 2022 before pulling back due to regulatory challenges.
A finalized deal would position Coinbase to scale its trading services in India just as the government is preparing its first formal crypto policy.
Deal comes after major security breach at CoinDCX
The timing follows a $44 million hack that hit CoinDCX earlier this month. On July 19, attackers drained funds from an internal hot wallet used for liquidity provisioning on a partner exchange. Customer funds, which remained in cold storage, were not affected.
The company confirmed it used treasury reserves to fully cover the loss and has since launched a bounty program offering up to 25% of any recovered funds, capped at $11 million. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT flagged the breach, revealing that the attackers used Tornado Cash and cross-chain bridges to obfuscate fund movements.
Two wallets holding over 155,000 Solana (SOL) and 4,400 Ethereum (ETH) remain under observation. While speculation has pointed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, the attribution remains unconfirmed.
As part of its response, CoinDCX halted web3 services, processed more than 31,000 withdrawal requests in a single day, and put new security measures in place. The breach has reignited scrutiny over Indian centralized exchanges, with critics pointing to CoinDCX’s high hot wallet exposure and a lack of transparent custody audits.
