A former employee of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia has pleaded guilty to the theft of roughly $172,000 in cryptocurrency he obtained by making a copy of users’ private keys. According to a Monday report from New Zealand news outlet Stuff, the unnamed Cryptopia employee pleaded guilty in Christchurch District Court to the theft of more than $1,000 and theft “by a person in a special relationship” — referring to cases when a person takes funds held in trust from someone else. The court convicted the employee, and he will be sentenced on Oct. 20. The worker had reportedly raised …

The liquidator of now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia has launched the claims process to reimburse creditors following a 2019 hack. Professional services firm Grant Thornton, Cryptopia’s assigned liquidator, officially announced on Dec. 9 that creditors can now start the claims process on the Cryptopia claims portal. The claims process requires creditors to register on the Cryptopia claims portal and confirm details regarding their Cryptopia account. “Only verified account holders can register in the claims process,” Grant Thornton noted in the statement. Based in New Zealand, Cryptopia became the victim of a major hacking incident in early 2019, reportedly resulting in losses …

On July 21, legal representation for GNY, a firm focused on artificial intelligence and the issuer of LML, filed a final notice of liquidators’ failure to comply with duties. The liquidator in question is accounting firm Grant Thornton, which GNY accuses of botching their handling of hacked and defunct crypto exchange Cryptopia. Such a notice is the final step before a lawsuit, which would add to an already entangled case of trying to return funds from a compromised exchange. The hack and the drawn-out distribution of funds Hackers accessed New Zealand-based crypto exchange Cryptopia for two weeks in January 2019, …

“Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet” is filmmaker Torsten Hoffmann’s follow up to his award-winning 2015 documentary “Bitcoin: The End of Money As We Know It.” His first film looked at the history (and failings) of money and the financial system, and how Bitcoin was poised to revolutionize and solve many of its problems. Now, Cryptopia brings us up to date with the current state of play in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain. The documentary is split into three acts. Act I - Bitcoin First we get an introduction to the fundamentals of Bitcoin, recapping the …

Hacked cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia today informed its users that the High Court of New Zealand has delivered its judgment on the status of their compromised assets. In a tweet thread published on April 8, the exchange shared the 74-page court document detailing the judgment, summarizing: “Today, 8 April 2020, Justice Gendall delivered his judgment finding firstly, cryptocurrencies are “property” [...] and secondly, that account holders' cryptocurrency were held on multiple trusts, separated by individual crypto-asset type. This means that the cryptocurrencies are beneficially owned by the account holders and are not assets of the company.” Some creditors to get less …

Liquidators of hacked New Zealand cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia have recovered almost $11 million in the past six months, but say the process remains difficult. In its second report into its operations at Cryptopia, Grant Thornton confirmed that receipts from May to November totaled around 10.9 million New Zealand dollars ($7.18 million). Funds trickle back from oblivion Expenses, including payments to certain preferential creditors, came to NZ$3.74 million ($2.46 million), resulting in a net recovery of NZ$7.2 million ($4.74 million). “We continue to investigate the affairs of the Company and its directors in the period prior to our appointment to determine …

Grant Thornton, the firm liquidating hacked New Zealand cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia, has discussed how best to do so with the platform’s developers. Grant Thorton aims for “collaborative relationship” According to a leaked email from Grant Thornton originally dated Sept. 23, its executives planned to conduct an online meeting with the developers on Oct. 7. The email reads: “Given the scale, complexity and unique nature of the Cryptopia situation it is desirable to develop a collaborative relationship with the developer community.” The move marks the latest step in reimbursing the exchange’s clients, who lost about $4.2 million in total after the …

Professional services firm Grant Thornton claims that it has made good progress in securing and preserving the cryptocurrencies of hacked exchange Cryptopia. In a news release published on Aug. 21, Cryptopia’s liquidator said there were two reasons why it had taken so long to determine what the exchange’s customers had held. Grant Thornton explained that some customers did not have individual wallets and their funds were pooled together, as Cryptopia kept details of customer holdings in its database. As a consequence of this, the firm said it is impossible to determine individual ownership by relying on wallet keys. The liquidator …

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 …

As the cryptocurrency market finds its legs in mid-2019, an unfortunate undercurrent persists vis-à-vis the floundering New Zealand exchange Cryptopia. Its one-time international popularity and solid reputation have already been ruined after the exchange dragged its feet on revealing a January hack, which cost its users somewhere in the region of $16 million in cryptocurrency drained from Cryptopia wallets. However, it was not long before new obstacles emerged in the way of an eventual settlement. Optimism surrounding the reimbursement of these funds to customers is now dwindling, as appointed auditing and liquidation firm Grant Thornton recently indicated “the process of …

Liquidators of defunct New Zealand cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia have applied to secure user data stored in the United States as part of refund proceedings, a statement confirmed on May 27. Cryptopia, which suffered a hack in January, has spent months cooperating with law enforcement worldwide in an effort to control stolen funds worth around $16 million. The exchange appointed Grant Thornton to lead the liquidation, which confirmed it had applied for urgent interim relief at the Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York on May 24. The filing further requests the U.S. recognize the New Zealand liquidation process. …

It goes without saying that exchanges command significant influence over the cryptocurrency market, being the exclusive portals for fiat into the world of blockchain. Exchanges are also the most significant winners of the cryptocurrency craze, and bank billions by raking in fees and maintaining custody over sizeable crypto wallets comprised of their own funds but also those of the customers. In a largely unregulated environment, the latter idea comes with its own set of implications and risks. Not every exchange uses its capital to reduce these risks adequately. Instead of reinvesting in a more secure custody service or establishing carefully …