Indian cricket team coach Gautam Gambhir sparked outrage on Wednesday after endorsing cryptocurrencies on social media. The former Lok Sabha MP has been vocal in his support for CoinDCX since being appointed as brand ambassador in November 2024. His latest post, however, sparked outrage on X after netizens noticed that there was no disclosure tagging it as an ‘advertisement’.
“They said crypto was a fad. Guess what? Over two crore Indians disagree,” Gambhir wrote on X while tagging CoinDCX.
The cricketer also shared a video clip of his full-page jacket newspaper advertisement endorsing the crypto trading platform to underscore his support.
‘Where is the disclosure?’
The post left many on social media baffled — with some X users wondering if his account had been hacked. A community note by X users noted that Gambhir had not made any disclosures despite “appearing to be part of a paid CoinDCX campaign”. Readers also flagged older posts by the cricketer-turned-politician for similar promotional concerns.
“Ab ad bhi karne laga bina bataye ki ye ad hai,” wrote on X user.
“Promoting betting and crypto currency…this is against public interest,” insisted a second.
“It’s not a secure platform. We expect better from you,” fumed a third while sharing a news update about the CoinDCX hacking.
CoinDCX $44 million hacking
The endorsement also comes days after CoinDCX faced a $44 million hacking debacle — with a permanent employee being arrested in connection with the case. The Bengaluru Police nabbed software engineer Rahul Agarwal at the end of July after a company investigation revealed that his laptop security had been compromised. He has denied any involvement in the theft but admitted to undertaking additional work for three to four private clients without knowing their specific details. Investigators also uncovered a suspicious deposit of Rs 15 lakh into his bank account from an unknown source.