A cryptocurrency breach involving a foreign tech firm has come under investigation in Hyderabad, India. Hackers successfully infiltrated the company’s digital wallet, siphoning off digital assets and attempting to liquidate the holdings, raising fresh concerns around wallet security and access control in the Web3 space.
According to the Cyberabad police, the victim is a technology company registered in the British Virgin Islands. The official complaint was filed by the firm’s representative, a resident of Gachibowli, who held authorized access to the wallet and its private keys.
Hack detected following unauthorized activity
The breach surfaced when the representative noticed unauthorized outbound transfers from the company’s crypto wallet. The compromised wallet reportedly held around 4.48 lakh utility tokens, valued at approximately ₹38 lakh.
Preliminary investigations reveal that the attacker swiftly transferred the tokens to an intermediary wallet before listing the entire holding for sale on a cryptocurrency trading platform. A portion of the tokens was successfully sold, resulting in a loss of nearly ₹9 lakh.
When the breach was detected, the remaining 3.37 lakh tokens, valued at around ₹29 lakh, were still sitting on the order books. Acting quickly, the complainant collaborated with the trading platform’s security team to temporarily freeze the unsold tokens before escalating the matter to the authorities for further recovery efforts.
Experts point to private key compromise
The situation grew more complex as the cybercriminal dispersed the liquidated funds across multiple decentralized wallets—a common laundering tactic designed to obscure transaction trails and on-chain analysis.
Cybersecurity experts point out that such incidents are rarely due to cryptographic flaws in the blockchain itself, but rather human error and structural weaknesses in how wallet access is managed.
The case has highlighted the need for stronger safeguards across the crypto ecosystem. Experts recommend the use of hardware-based key storage, multi-signature authorization, and continuous transaction monitoring to detect suspicious activity early. Additionally, organizations should regularly audit and revoke unnecessary smart contract permissions.
This corporate breach underscores a broader epidemic facing the digital asset industry in India. While the underlying blockchain systems are secure by design, the surrounding infrastructure remains a highly lucrative target for scammers.
Also read: From Banned to Branded: How Binance Went From India’s Blacklist to Its Award Stage
