Mumbai, March 31, 2026: Cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX has announced a ₹100 crore commitment to strengthen India’s cyber fraud prevention ecosystem, days after co-founders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal were arrested and later granted bail in a fraud case linked to an impersonation scam.
The announcement follows a March 21 police custody action in connection with a ₹71.6 lakh fraud complaint, in which scammers allegedly used a fake website — coindcx.pro — to impersonate the platform and lure victims. On March 24, a Thane court granted bail, observing that prima facie no case was made out against the founders, while noting that the complainant had confirmed he neither knew nor had met them.
I want to address what happened to Neeraj and me last week. Of course, it was quite shocking to us as well and honestly very disheartening. But today, we want to talk about what actually happened and more importantly, what we’re going to do about it.
On March 21, we were taken… pic.twitter.com/7uNEu0T3H3
— Sumit Gupta (CoinDCX) (@smtgpt) March 30, 2026
Calling the experience “deeply unsettling,” the company said the incident exposed a major gap in India’s digital safety infrastructure: the inability to quickly distinguish between legitimate businesses and fraudsters exploiting trusted brand identities.
In response, CoinDCX has unveiled the Digital Suraksha Network (D.S.N.), a multi-layered cyber safety initiative designed to combat online impersonation scams and strengthen fraud detection systems across the broader digital finance ecosystem.
What CoinDCX plans to build
According to the company, the ₹100 crore fund will support four key pillars:
- 24x7 WhatsApp Helpline: A free public service to help users verify suspicious links, investment offers, and digital platforms before transacting.
- Open Fraud Intelligence API: CoinDCX said it has already identified 1,200+ fraudulent websites impersonating its brand and will now make this intelligence available through an open API for exchanges, banks, fintechs, and digital lenders.
- Cyber Safety Infrastructure for Law Enforcement: The initiative will fund training programs for state cybercrime cells, with focus areas including blockchain forensics and digital asset tracing.
- “Caution Before Transaction” Campaign: A nationwide public awareness drive to equip Indian consumers with practical fraud prevention tools and digital finance safety knowledge.
The company stressed that this is not just a crypto-sector issue, but a broader challenge affecting any business with a digital footprint, especially as fraud networks increasingly deploy AI-powered impersonation and social engineering tactics.
CoinDCX also called on platforms, regulators, and financial institutions to collaborate on shared fraud intelligence systems, describing the initiative as the beginning of a “shared immune system” for India’s digital finance ecosystem.
The move comes at a time when the founders’ arrest has sparked wider debate around brand impersonation liability, cybercrime enforcement protocols, and founder risk in India’s startup ecosystem. The company said the larger goal is to ensure founders can continue building in India “with confidence, and not with fear.”
