Tether blacklisted USDT wallet addresses carrying roughly $2.2 million linked to outflows from Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX. The freezing action follows a breakdown in CoinDCX automated sweep mechanism meant to recover funds sent to addresses deprecated after a $44 million breach in July 2025. On-chain activity showed 15.8 million USDT moving out of address TQKJQ, prompting allegations from investigator ZachXBT. CoinDCX absorbed the operational losses and credited affected users while clarifying that active customer assets remain safe in segregated cold wallets.
Failed deposit sweep process
- ▪CoinDCX experienced operational losses on October 22, 2026, after a routine process to sweep crypto deposits landing on wallet addresses deprecated following CoinDCX's July 2025 hack failed
- ▪CoinDCX identified a breakdown in its deposit sweep system on the morning of October 22, 2026, but did not disclose how long the sweep was down or how many users were affected
July 2025 CoinDCX hack
- ▪CoinDCX co-founder Sumit Gupta stated on October 22, 2026, that flagged wallet addresses, including TQKJQ, dated to January 2025 and were compromised during CoinDCX's July 2025 hack, characterizing reports of a new breach involving TQKJQ as a false alarm
- ▪Hackers drained approximately $44 million from an internal CoinDCX account in July 2025, prompting the Indian crypto exchange to deprecate compromised wallet addresses and warn users against depositing to them
TQKJQ wallet outflows timeline
- ▪On-chain investigator ZachXBT alleged on October 22, 2026, that a CoinDCX-linked address TQKJQ swept user deposits into CoinDCX active hot wallet in April and May 2026, leaving $15.8 million unaccounted for
- ▪Tron blockchain records show a CoinDCX-linked wallet address labeled TQKJQ moved 15,819,002 USDT at 11:35 a.m. ET on October 21, 2026, to a newly created address that transferred out all funds by 11:22 p.m. ET
CoinDCX user crediting policy
- ▪CoinDCX credited user accounts that sent deposits to deprecated wallet addresses following CoinDCX's July 2025 breach and absorbed the resulting operational losses
- ▪CoinDCX co-founder Sumit Gupta assured users on October 22, 2026, that no customer funds would be lost, confirming active customer assets sit in segregated cold wallets
Deprecated address deposit liability
- ▪CoinDCX has not stated whether it will continue to credit user deposits sent to wallet addresses deprecated after CoinDCX's July 2025 breach in the future
- ▪CoinDCX advised users to verify deposit addresses on its official application or website, cautioning that crypto exchanges typically do not assume liability for deposits sent to retired addresses
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