Cryptopia reported a security breach earlier Monday, leading to the exchange’s shutdown. Here are eight important details about the incident.
The cryptocurrency community was welcomed this week with an unpleasant bang after the famous New Zealand exchange platform Cryptopia suffered from a security breach and lost millions of dollars-worth in digital tokens.
While inquiries continue regarding the security breach, those who missed the biggest news January has yet to offer can catch up by reading these eight important points about the Cryptopia hack below:
#1 Cryptopia Down on Monday …
We are currently experiencing an unscheduled maintenance, we are working to resume services as soon as possible. We will keep you updated.
— Cryptopia Exchange (@Cryptopia_NZ) January 14, 2019
On January 14, Cryptopia users were surprised when the exchange’s services became unavailable because of “unscheduled maintenance.” Customers were welcomed with a text on the website, suggesting that the exchange is “working to resume services as quickly as possible.”
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#2 … Because of a Hack
— Cryptopia Exchange (@Cryptopia_NZ) January 15, 2019
As it turned out, Cryptopia was forced to suddenly enter into maintenance mode because it was hacked. A day later, the exchange tweeted that it “suffered a security breach which resulted in significant losses.” The post further explained that the exchange went down as the Cryptopia team counted the losses.
#3 Around $3.5M Missing
48,029,306 #CENNZ (1,176,596 USD) transferred from #Cryptopia to Unknown wallet
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) January 13, 2019
19,391 #ETH (2,438,152 USD) transferred from #Cryptopia to Unknown wallet
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) January 13, 2019
While Cryptopia only described its losses as “significant,” those from the online crypto community estimated the stolen digital tokens to be worth around US$3.5 million. Curious enthusiasts based that rough estimate on two huge withdrawals made from Cryptopia to another wallet address.
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#4 Police Already Involved
Local news reports showed photos of New Zealand Police inside Cryptopia’s headquarters in Christchurch. The law enforcement agency explained that it is creating an investigation team—with police officers well versed in cryptos—to look at the “potential un-authorised transaction activity” on Cryptopia.
#5 First Hack of 2019…
The security breach in Cryptopia would be the first high-profile hacking incident—if not the first ever—reported among crypto exchanges this year.
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#6 … or First Exit Scam of the Year?
More news regarding $ETH transfers from Cryptopia which all outputted to this address, approximately $3,600,000 now residing there; https://t.co/ydG8Q13Yux
— .:⠠⋮⠠:. (@deomaius) January 15, 2019
However, parts of the online crypto world called exit scam on Cryptopia. They explained that the huge amount of Ether (ETH) and Centrality (CENNZ) tokens ended up on a wallet address owned by the exchange itself. To further support their accusations, these individuals pointed out that the huge transfers occurred hours before the unscheduled maintenance—a common theme among proven exit scams.
#7 Cryptopia, NZ’s Largest Exchange
Cryptopia is one of the largest local crypto exchange platforms in New Zealand. Reports estimated the number of the exchange’s clients rose to above 1.4 million in January 2018, four years after its launch in 2014.
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#8 Home for Non-Popular Coin Trading
The exchange became popular among traders as it has around 400 different cryptos available for trading. Most of these altcoins were smaller than and not as popular as established digital tokens, a fact that attracted holders of obscure crypto coins into Cryptopia.
Crypto enthusiasts following this story may need to wait for months as the New Zealand police continues its investigation into the reported hacking of Cryptopia.
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