In a significant ruling, a magistrate court in Thane, India, has granted bail to CoinDCX co-founders Sumit Surendra Gupta and Niraj Ashok Khandelwal, dismissing a 71 lakh Indian rupees ($75,000) cheating complaint against them. The case, which involved a fake trading platform impersonating the Indian crypto exchange, has been a subject of intense scrutiny and highlights the growing issue of impersonation scams in the crypto sector.
The court’s decision on March 23, 2023, concluded that no prima facie case was made against the founders based on the initial evidence. The founders were questioned over the weekend following a complaint that alleged they had defrauded an investor. However, the court noted that the investigation officer had no objections to their release and that the founders were not present in Mumbra when the alleged offense took place. The informant admitted in court that another person, identified as Rana, had impersonated the CoinDCX founders and cheated him.
In a statement on X, CoinDCX emphasized that the court proceedings supported a ‘third-party impersonation’ scenario. The company stated that the fraud occurred on a lookalike site, coindcx.pro, which has no connection to CoinDCX. The judge also noted that the informant had filed an affidavit stating that Rana had repaid the cheated amount, and the matter was ‘amicably settled.’
The court ordered the founders to be released on bail upon executing a 50,000 Indian rupee bond (approximately $530), with the condition that they cooperate with the ongoing investigation and trial. CoinDCX framed this episode as part of a broader trend of impersonation and phishing scams targeting well-known brands in India’s financial and crypto sectors. The company urged users to verify domains and only interact with the official platform and social media profiles.
CoinDCX, established in 2018 and headquartered in Mumbai, is one of India’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges. The platform reached an estimated valuation of around $2.45 billion following a funding round led by Coinbase Ventures in October 2025. However, the exchange has faced security concerns in the past, notably a July 2025 incident where hackers drained approximately $44 million from one of its internal operational accounts, though CoinDCX emphasized that no customer funds were compromised.
The court’s ruling is a significant victory for CoinDCX and its founders, reinforcing the need for greater awareness and vigilance in the crypto community. As the industry continues to grow, the risk of such impersonation scams is likely to increase, making it crucial for platforms to implement robust security measures and educate their users about potential threats.
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