The making of a founder: Sumit Gupta of CoinDCX on building India’s exchange on a foundation of trust and transparency

In the high-stakes world of cryptocurrency, a security breach can be the ultimate test of a company’s integrity and resilience. In July this year, CoinDCX, one of India’s largest crypto exchanges, faced a $44 million security breach in their systems. In an exclusive interview with Abhishek Singh, Deputy Editor, LiveMint on Mint's Rollin' with the Boss series, presented by Rajnigandha, the CoinDCX's co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sumit Gupta, gave a candid account of how the crisis was handled. He also offered a rare glimpse into the personal journey that prepared him for such a moment – from a childhood spent in a small Madhya Pradesh village to leading a FinTech giant.

As soon as teams at CoinDCX discovered the security breach, they sprung into corrective action. The company’s swift and decisive response began with an immediate and transparent communication to its users. Gupta was upfront about the incident, explaining that it was a “social engineering attack”. He said: “They target your employees via LinkedIn, give them lots of money, and then they ask you to do certain things. Very sophisticated. It took one and a half years for someone to essentially do that.”

He clarified that the attack never penetrated the company’s “cold wallets”, or the secure, offline storage where most customer funds are kept. The breach affected working capital held on partner exchanges.

Watch the full episode below,

For Gupta and his team, the primary focus was crystal clear – to ensure that no customer was impacted. “All the requests that customers were placing, they wanted to withdraw the platform, all of them were 100 per cent fulfilled. So, absolutely fine. I think customers loved how it was handled,” he said.

This incident became a pivotal learning experience. The company immediately re-architected its security systems, removed dependencies on third-party partners where possible, and onboarded top-tier global security agencies. For Gupta, it was a reminder of the continuous nature of security. “You can never say now it’s done...that’s a constant area where you invest money in,” he noted. The experience, while challenging, also brought a moment of profound personal reflection. “Everyone was like working day and night. For the next three days, I was not even able to like sleep.. I got to know about myself as a person a lot more during that, like, how you react in a crisis,” he said, highlighting the resilience that is built when a founder is truly tested.

The roots of resilience

Gupta’s personal journey began in Rahi, a small village in Madhya Pradesh, where he was born and spent his early years shaped by his father’s business of trading peanuts and other crops. This entrepreneurial spirit was instilled in him from a young age. His first tryst with entrepreneurship started with figuring out the small things like figuring out ways to collect money to buy an extra samosa!

Over the next few years, the family moved across Madhya Pradesh, where his father tried different businesses. This grounded upbringing taught him discipline and prepared him for the intense academic rigor of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, where he pursued both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree.

His decision to forgo a “cushy corporate job”, or an attempt at UPSC after graduation in favour of starting a business was not a whimsical one. It was a calculated leap of faith, inspired by the start-up boom he witnessed in India and a strong desire to do something meaningful with his life. He took up a “well-paying” job in Tokyo after his Masters and recalls a turning point while working there, feeling that he was not being “productive” enough. “So I finally just left my job to make myself uncomfortable. That’s when the growth happens.. I just saw an episode of TVF Pitchers and I was like, wow, I made the right decision,” he chuckled, referring to a popular web series about start-ups.

The power of persistence

CoinDCX’s success is a dual narrative, with Gupta and his co-founder, Neeraj Khandelwal, at its heart. They met at IIT Bombay, and their friendship evolved into a powerful professional partnership. Gupta describes their bond as “as good as having a brother from another mother.”

This deep, long-standing relationship has been critical to their success. “We know everything about each other, and we share a lot because in the last eight years, there have been a lot of complicated things,” he said. Their chemistry allows for a unique creative process. “Give us 60 minutes, we’ll come up with something so crazy, which will just take the business to the next level.”

He attributes their success to a combination of “mad optimism” and persistence. In the early days, as other exchanges were shutting down, they faced immense uncertainty. “We were just at it. We didn’t give up. We were like, at it, let’s just keep doing it. And one thing led to another, and we had no idea most of the time,” he said.

Life beyond the office

Despite his demanding work schedule, Gupta maintains a disciplined personal life. He wakes up at 7 am and spends the first half hour outdoors, watering his plants. This is a ritual that provides a moment of peace before the day begins. “It's good to see vegetables grow,” he says, with a smile. He also makes time for prayer and meditation, practices that have been a constant since his childhood.

His philosophy on time is particularly telling. He has a simple framework for calculating his hourly worth, a mental model that helps him delegate tasks and prioritise his time. “I don’t mind paying like, a few lakh rupees extra...but I cannot live even 15 minutes away from my office,” he states, emphasising the premium he places on efficiency and proximity.

When he is not working, Gupta loves to spend time with his wife, a movie buff. “The number of movies I have seen after my marriage is more than the number of movies I’ve seen in a lifetime before marriage,” he said. He also enjoys sports like badminton and squash, and plays online chess to unwind.

Note to Readers: Rollin' with the Boss is a Mint editorial series presented by Rajnigandha. Lexus is the Luxury Partner.