Topic: [Cryptopia] ONLINE ARTICLES related to hack &theft of funds 2022 (non discussion - page 5. (Read 5651 times)

Hacked Cryptopia investors in the dark over 'rebate'

Hacked Christchurch-based cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia will give a "rebate" to investors who lost funds. But details are sketchy.

And a decision to refund people who lost currency using the NZ dollar price on the day of the hack, January 14, will be controversial, given the big hikes in cryptocurrency values over the last month.

Cryptocurrency experts have estimated that $23 million-worth of investors' crypto coins were stolen when a hacker or hackers broke into the Christchurch exchange.

Cryptopia has been working with New Zealand Police to try to work out who the hacker is and where the cryptocurrency has gone, but investors have been frustrated by the lack of information.

On March 18, two months after the heist, Cryptopia emailed investors with details of "a rebate for customers who unfortunately lost funds".

"We are working through the logistics of this to ensure it is equitable and in compliance with local laws," Cryptopia's co-founder Rob (Hex) Dawson said.

Cryptocurrency and tax specialist Campbell Pentney from law firm Bell Gully says while the proposed rebate is likely to be welcomed by the market as a positive step towards the planned restoration of the exchange, investors are still waiting for details.

"In particular whether they can expect a full refund, how losses will be calculated and whether refunds will be made instantly or over time by way of a fee-sharing arrangement.

In his email last month, Cryptopia's Dawson said the company would be providing more details "shortly" about the rebates and the projected dates for trading to be active again.

"Please be aware we are hoping to achieve this by the end of the month," Dawson said.

However that date, March 31, has come and gone, and with it the end of the tax year.

Pentney says one key concern will be whether investors can obtain tax refunds for their "lost" tokens.

"The challenge here is that this requires a degree of certainty that the funds are absolutely lost and the portion that is missing. One positive step is that traders can now reclaim their trading records which are vital for tax purposes."

To add insult to injury for Cryptopia investors, Cryptopia will set the value of the rebate using what each currency was worth on January 14, the date of the hack. But the last month has been a boom time for cryptocurrencies, particularly the less well-known ones.

"The first quarter of 2019 was a breath of fresh air for the cryptocurrency market, having recorded its first quarterly increase in overall network valuations since the fourth quarter of 2017," journalist Sam Ouimet wrote on the Coindesk blockchain news site this week.

"Interestingly, however, bitcoin is among the least significant price gainers so far this year... This means a sizable portion of the market's recent growth came from the many other cryptocurrencies trading on exchanges today."

Some small or medium cap cryptocurrencies doubled or tripled in value in March, Ouimet said.

Cryptopia traded a wide range of currencies, and was a significant trading platform for some smaller cryptocurrencies.

A list of tokens stolen from Cryptopia in the January hack names 98 currencies. Most are relatively obscure and trade at just a few cents, or fractions of a cent. However they add up to a total Cryptopia loss of US$15.9m.

Some Cryptopia investors will also be unhappy about an announcement that they won't get back any money they might have accidentally put into the exchange after the hack. Some investors, unaware of the site had been closed down, continued to put money into Cryptopia.

"Any users who sent deposits more than 24 hours after we announced the security breach will not have their deposits recovered," Cryptopia says.

"We do not have a deadline for when we will be recovering transactions sent before this cutoff, and any deposits that we recover will be subject to the same haircut that has already been applied to our users."

Meanwhile, in a bizarre twist to the story, an Estonian-based company whose cryptocurrency Mothership was one of the less-well-known ones traded on the Cryptopia exchange, has received half of its stolen tokens back.

Mothership said in a blog that it had been contacted anonymously by someone who claimed to have stolen the private keys to the Mothership currency from the original Cryptopia hacker.

That possible hacker of the hacker then shared the private keys with Mothership, which was able to get back 16.8 million Mothership tokens.

An estimated 32 million were stolen, worth around US$880,000 as of January 19, meaning just over 50 per cent has been returned.

Pentney suggests the return of the tokens might have been a way to re-introduce some liquidity into the market so the hacker, or others, could trade the remaining 50 per cent.

"Mothership relied on Cryptopia for trading volume and, since the attack, it is no longer tradeable - it now has a miniscule volume on a single obscure exchange. Mothership responded by proposing a token "swap" for existing holders, which would render the previous mothership tokens useless.

"It may be that half the tokens were returned in order to revive the project, which would allow anyone holding those previous tokens to sell in the future. This may have partially worked as already the token swap is on hold."

Mothership spokeswoman Linh Le says her company is working with Cryptopia and the police to sort how to get the retrieved 16.8m Mothership tokens back to their legitimate owners.

"At the same time we have received new information about the Cryptopia hacker(s) and are actively continuing to investigate our leads on them. We are cooperating with the New Zealand Police and Cryptopia to aid bringing the culprits to justice."

Will Cryptopia Finally Reopen After $16M Hack?
Cryptopia, the New Zealand-based cryptocurrency exchange that suffered a $16 million hack in January was supposed to be relaunching the exchange on March 3. However, due to unforeseen delays, the relaunch was postponed and is now set to launch today, March 5.

Update: We were aiming to get the site live today however, we have had a slight delay and are aiming to have the site live tomorrow. We will keep you updated as this progresses.

— Cryptopia Exchange (@Cryptopia_NZ) March 4, 2019

Will Cryptopia Users Be Reimbursed for Stolen Funds?
The relaunch of the exchange is highly anticipated among existing Cryptopia users, as it will give them more information pertaining to their tokens held on the exchange during the hack.

As previously reported by IIB, over 76,000 Cryptopia wallets were compromised by the hack, in which attackers obtained the private keys and withdrew millions of dollars worth of tokens.

A recent update by Cryptopia states that a read-only site for existing Cryptopia users will be live today, March 5. Per the update, existing users are urged to use the site to reset passwords and 2FA credentials to prepare for the live relaunch of the exchange.

The update also revealed that the read-only site will be showing user balances as of January 14, 2019, the date of the initial Cryptopia hack. In the same update, Cryptopia noted that their team is finalizing a rebate process for affected users and will provide updates when possible.

The read only site will be live today, it will show balances as at 14th Jan 2019. Please use this site to reset passwords and 2FA credentials. We are finalising a rebate process for affected users, more details to follow. Thank you for your support during the last few weeks.

— Cryptopia Exchange (@Cryptopia_NZ) March 4, 2019

Following the update seen in the tweet above, Cryptopia addressed concerned Cryptopia users, stating that the balances shown on the live read-only site are pre-hack, and will be used as a baseline for calculating customer rebates moving forward.

It appears that Cryptopia users are in luck, as their stolen funds will purportedly be fully reimbursed.

Update: The read-only site is now live. The holding balance from the 14th Jan is pre hack and we will be using these holdings as a baseline for calculating rebates moving forwards.

— Cryptopia Exchange (@Cryptopia_NZ) March 5, 2019

Do you think the Cryptopia exchange will relaunch on March 5, or will there be more unforeseen delays? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Cryptopia reopens, but investors in dark re hack

Christchurch-based cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia has reopened, at least in a limited way.

But investors remain in the dark about whether they will get any of their stolen coins back.

Cryptocurrency experts have estimated that $23 million-worth of investors’ crypto coins could have been affected by the Jan. 14 hack, though the company has said only that in a “worst case” scenario, 9.4 percent of total holdings have been stolen.

Late last week, Cryptopia tweeted that a “read only” site would be live on Monday. Yesterday afternoon, for the first time in almost two months, long-suffering investors could log into their accounts.

However, the company warned they will only show balances as at Jan. 14, before the hack.

Cryptocurrency and tax specialist Campbell Pentney from law firm Bell Gully says users will be able to access their accounts, but no one will be able to transact or withdraw.

“But it’s positive that those using the exchange will be able to see their accounts and trading history. Many users will have upcoming tax obligations - for example, the New Zealand tax year is nearly at an end and many overseas investors may have tax returns due - and investors will want adequate records to establish their tax position.”  

However, as the site reopened several investors reported problems logging in, and others were frustrated at the continuing uncertainty.

“How do we know if we have lost our coins if it's pre-hack?” an investor called TronDogs tweeted.

“When will trading and withdrawal come back?" Wang Qi asked. "I hope it's not another two months waiting.”

No one from Cryptopia has been available for comment since the hack, despite police telling investors and media they should address questions to company executives.

Founders Rob Dawson and Adam Clark have not fronted up to investors who are worried about what’s lost and what might be recoverable.

“We are finalising a rebate process for affected users, more details to follow, Thank you for your support during the last few weeks,” was all the company said in yesterday's tweet.

“What is this ‘rebate’? Do we get our whole balance back?” investor Mohamad El Hout asked.

Tim Doyle, director of AgBiz Accountants, says some of his clients have been frustrated by being unable to log in to Cryptopia and access their trading history or know what coins remain on Cryptopia.

He welcomed the reopening of the exchange.

“To write off any Cryptopia coins, it would be prudent to ensure that they will not be recovered. Having the exchange reopen before 31 March should provide certainty for their 2019 tax returns and allow traders to write off any hacked coins for tax purposes.”

However, the basic concerns remain, Doyle says.

“There is still uncertainty to what the final outcome is for the hacked coins - for example what does 9.4 percent loss mean for each specific individual?”

Cryptopia site reopens, but no news on investor losses
Christchurch-based cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia has reopened, at least in a limited way.

But investors remain in the dark about whether they will get any of their stolen coins back.

Cryptocurrency experts have estimated that $23 million-worth of investors' crypto coins could have been affected by the Jan. 14 hack, though the company has said only that in a "worst case" scenario, 9.4 per cent of total holdings have been stolen.

Late last week, Cryptopia tweeted that a "read only" site would be live on Monday. Yesterday afternoon, for the first time in almost two months, long-suffering investors could log into their accounts.

However, the company warned they will only show balances as at Jan. 14, before the hack.

Cryptocurrency and tax specialist Campbell Pentney from law firm Bell Gully says users will be able to access their accounts, but no one will be able to transact or withdraw.

"But it's positive that those using the exchange will be able to see their accounts and trading history. Many users will have upcoming tax obligations - for example, the New Zealand tax year is nearly at an end and many overseas investors may have tax returns due - and investors will want adequate records to establish their tax position."

However, as the site reopened several investors reported problems logging in, and others were frustrated at the continuing uncertainty.

"How do we know if we have lost our coins if it's pre-hack?" an investor called TronDogs tweeted.

"When will trading and withdrawal come back?" Wang Qi asked. "I hope it's not another two months waiting."

No one from Cryptopia has been available for comment since the hack, despite police telling investors and media they should address questions to company executives.

Founders Rob Dawson and Adam Clark have not fronted up to investors who are worried about what's lost and what might be recoverable.

"We are finalising a rebate process for affected users, more details to follow, Thank you for your support during the last few weeks," was all the company said in yesterday's tweet.

"What is this 'rebate'? Do we get our whole balance back?" investor Mohamad El Hout asked.

Tim Doyle, director of AgBiz Accountants, says some of his clients have been frustrated by being unable to log in to Cryptopia and access their trading history or know what coins remain on Cryptopia.

He welcomed the reopening of the exchange.

"To write off any Cryptopia coins, it would be prudent to ensure that they will not be recovered. Having the exchange reopen before 31 March should provide certainty for their 2019 tax returns and allow traders to write off any hacked coins for tax purposes."

However, the basic concerns remain, Doyle says.

"There is still uncertainty to what the final outcome is for the hacked coins - for example, what does 9.4 per cent loss mean for each specific individual?"

- BusinessDesk

HACKED CRYPTOPIA RESUMES WITH READ-ONLY WEBSITE

Cryptopia has announced that its read-only website is now live. The New Zealand-based cryptocurrency exchange platform suffered a hack back in mid-January, leading to the theft of about nine percent of the company’s funds.

CRYPTOPIA WEBSITE SHOWING PRE-HACK BALANCES
In a tweet published on Tuesday (March 5, 2019), Cryptopia announced that its read-only site is now online. According to the tweet, customers can view their pre-hack balances, which the company says it will use as “a baseline” for reimbursing those affected by the hack.

Update: The read-only site is now live. The holding balance from the 14th Jan is pre hack and we will be using these holdings as a baseline for calculating rebates moving forwards.

— Cryptopia Exchange (@Cryptopia_NZ) March 5, 2019

On Monday (March 4, 2019), the New Zealand-based Cryptopia had announced that customers might also use the read-only website to reset their two-factor authentication (2-FA) credentials and account passwords. The read-only site was initially supposed to go live on Sunday (March 3, 2019) but was pushed back due to some technical issues.

Based on previous statements released by the company, the launch of the read-only website also gives users the opportunity to monitor the company’s progress on securing its wallets. At the back-end of February 2019, Cryptopia revealed that it was in the process of transitioning its wallets to new secure servers.

After the first hack, Bitcoinist reported that the hackers resumed their attack. Some users, unbeknownst to them, continued to have funds deposited in wallets already under the control of the hackers. Cryptopia even alerted its customers back in February 2019 not to deposit funds into any old platform address.



REBATE PROCESS IMMINENT
The cryptocurrency exchange also announced there it would refund customers affected in the hack. The first attack saw the loss of more than $16 million worth of ETH tokens stolen. In the second attack, the hackers siphoned a further $180,000 in the second attack that occurred 15 days later.

Back in February 2019, Bitcoinist revealed that the hackers had been able to liquidate $3.2 million of the stolen cryptocurrency. In total, the company also said the attacks resulted in the loss of about 9.4 percent of all total funds.

The Cryptopia hack was the first in 2019 and once again stoked the flames of the debate concerning the most secure means of storing cryptocurrencies. In 2018, hackers stole almost $1 billion from cryptocurrency exchange platforms across the globe.

Cryptopia Website Goes Live After Slight Delay, User Balances Held from Pre-Hack State

Recently hacked crypto exchange Cryptopia has relaunched its website in a read only format, along with resuming user balances to its pre-hacked state, the exchange tweeted on March 5.

Following last week’s announcement of a March 4 launch date, Cryptopia has slightly delayed the relaunch by providing the live website on Tuesday, March 5, one day later.

In the latest series of tweets, Cryptopia confirmed it will be using customers’ balances held from Jan. 14 as a basis for further calculating rebates.

The exchange reported that they are finalizing a rebate process for affected users, planning to release more details soon. For now, Cryptopia recommended that customers reset their passwords and two-factor authentication credentials.

Following a $16 million hack in mid-January, Cryptopia had still remained in maintenance mode after the New Zealand Police reported that the exchange was ready to resume operations on Feb. 13. Responding to the news, Cryptoptia explained that it was not able to resume trading until the exchange can fully identify their losses and ensure that the balance is completely secure.

After the initial reports of the hack in the middle of January, further evidence surfaced that hackers were siphoning crypto out of the exchange as late as two weeks later.

In other exchange vulnerability news, on March 3, Ryo (RYO), a crypto project derived from Monero (XMR), published a post alleging that a bug in Monero wallet software could enable fake deposits to crypto exchanges. The described vulnerability, which is set to be patched in an upcoming release, could potentially allow hackers to fake a deposit of arbitrary amount of XMR to an exchange.

Cryptopia about to reopen web site as 'read only'

Cryptopia, the Christchurch-based cryptocurrency exchange closed down for a police investigation into a $23 million theft, will reopen as a "read only" web site.

Director Peter Dawson said the company would announce on Twitter that the Cryptopia web site was resuming so people could check their accounts.

"People will be able to see their balance. It's our objective to secure every client's assets as quickly as we can. I can't make any comment on what the police are doing."

Recent Cryptopia tweets said the exchange would reopen on March 4, but it never happened.

Dawson, whose son Rob Dawson was a founder of Cryptopia, had some personal fallout when another member of his local RSA requested that he stand down from his role as president until the police probe was completed.

Dawson said he didn't appreciate that his personal integrity had been questioned.
A company source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 40 staff had been retained on full pay while the six-week police probe was under way, and management roles had been restructured.

But he questioned whether the reputational damage had been too much for trading to resume.

The most well known cryptocurrency is Bitcoin, which crashed last year from highs of US$20,000 to US$3700 with various analysts predicting a rebound. Cryptopia offered the largest trading volumes of alternative digital coins.

Several investors have expressed frustration about the lack of communication from Cryptopia.

US punter Leonard Dodd said he had about $2400 invested in alternative digital coin Electroneum.

He had been unable to access his account to find out if his investment had been stolen.

"They really messed me up to be honest. The distrust is huge now," Dodd said.

Meanwhile, a Financial Markets Authority spokesman said the police had contacted it and the FMA had offered any assistance it could.

"The FMA does not regulate Cryptopia or the cryptocurrencies that it trades, but those providing a financial service related to cryptocurrencies need to register on the Financial Services Providers Register – which enables customers to access an independent dispute resolution service."

The FMA published guidance on cryptocurrencies in 2017 and highlighted the problem of cyber-crime.

"The FMA has received complaints about Cryptopia in the past and these were either forwarded onto the dispute resolution service or the FMA explained to Cryptopia customers the process for making a complaint to the dispute resolution service.

"We also engaged with the dispute resolution service and with Cryptopia directly to understand how those complaints were being handled," the FMA said.

Well the site is down already :

http://cryptopia.co.nz/

Deferred re-opening Cryptopia website. There is still a lot of work here.

"Update: We were aiming to get the site live today however, we have had a slight delay and are aiming to have the site live tomorrow. We will keep you updated as this progresses."

https://twitter.com/Cryptopia_NZ/status/1102400050812993536