Users of hacked crypto firm get millions back

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Cryptopia was hacked and drained in 2019. Photo: Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP

• Ten thousand Cryptopia account holders have received $400m in cryptocurrency
• It marks a major milestone after the cryptocurrency exchange's major hack and subsequent collapse in 2019
• Liquidators continue to work with the police and international authorities to find the source of the hack

Account holders of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia have received $400 million worth of cryptocurrency from liquidators, more than four years after the firm was hacked and subsequently put in liquidation.

Christchurch-based Cryptopia went into liquidation in May 2019, after the company was hacked in January of that year, with $30m worth of cryptocurrency stolen - based on prices at the time.

Cryptopia held about $170m worth of cryptocurrencies when it was put into liquidation. The value of cryptocurrencies has risen significantly since then.

At the time, Cryptopia had more than 2.2 million registered users globally, 960,000 "active" account holders and employed 37 staff.

Liquidators David Ruscoe and Malcolm Russell of Grant Thornton said over the past two days, more than 10,000 verified account holders of Bitcoin and Dogecoin received their first cryptocurrency distributions.

It meant more than $400m in cryptocurrencies has been returned over the past 48 hours.

"Since the launch of the Cryptopia claims portal four years ago, liquidators have been working to identify users so their assets could be returned in-specie and in line with Justice Gendall's decision in March 2020," the liquidators said.

"This complex process also involved rebuilding the hacked cryptocurrency exchange and reconciling millions of transactions from nearly 960,000 users."

Grant Thornton said it would continue to follow its "approved process", which included giving notice of cut-off dates before the remaining Bitcoin, Dogecoin and all other cryptocurrencies were distributed.

"There may be an additional top-up distribution to account holders, allowing them to receive up to 100 percent of their holdings using 'unclaimed holdings', from those account holders who have not registered in the claims portal after the cut-off dates," it said.

"The liquidators will give account holders notice of the soft cut-off date in the coming days."

In an update earlier this month, the liquidators said they were working with police and international authorities as they worked to find the source of the hack.

The liquidators said they filed recovery and information gatherings in the United States, Malaysia, Singapore and the Seychelles.

They had successfully petitioned US authorities for 18 Bitcoins (worth about $3.1m).

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