Liquidators of Hacked Cryptopia Exchange Release Report, Note $4.2M Owed to Creditors
The liquidators of now-defunct New Zealand crypto exchange Cryptopia have released the first report on the state of affairs of the firm, according to the documents published on May 31.
Cryptopia’s recently assigned liquidator, Grant Thornton, has released an estimation statement of the financial state of the firm, reporting that the hacked exchange owes a total of $4.22 million to its creditors.
According to the report, there are 69 unsecured creditor claims totalling $2.439 million, with the liquidators adding that they expect to receive further claims, thus raising the amount.
The report also indicates that the employee entitlements at the data of liquidation account for around $318,000.
In a press release accompanying the report, Thornton stated that the exchange liquidators, David Ruscoe and Russell Moore, are still in the process of securing and recovering the company’s crypto assets compromised from Cryptopia’s mid-January hack.
The report notes that liquidators were granted a court order from the New Zealand courts authorizing them to use certain crypto assets to recover and preserve assets. Thornton added that at the current stage of the investigation, they cannot forecast a date when the liquidation will be completed.
The legal expert wrote:
“We are aware of and understand the frustration of Cryptopia’s customers. As there is no legal precedent on crypto assets in New Zealand and worldwide, the distribution of those assets and the overall conduct of the liquidation will require significant direction from the New Zealand Courts.”
Cryptopia was the victim of a major hack in early 2019, with the stolen funds estimated to amount to about $16 million. Following the appointment as the exchange's liquidator, Thornton warned that creditors would have to wait months, rather than weeks, to get their funds back.
Recently, analysts found that hackers have moved a portion of Cryptopoa’s stolen crypto assets to another crypto exchange.