Cryptopia, the New Zealand-based cryptocurrency exchange that suffered the largest known hack of 2019 back in January, has finally released an update as to how many funds have potentially been lost. Per the update, Cryptopia has calculated that in a worst-case scenario, 9.4% of their total holdings were lost to the hackers.
Update:
We are continuing to work on assessing the impact incurred as a result of the hack in January. Currently, we have calculated that worst case 9.4% of our total holdings was stolen. Please keep an eye on our page for further updates today.— Cryptopia Exchange (@Cryptopia_NZ) February 27, 2019
Until now, the exchange has not provided any updates regarding the number of stolen funds. They have been working closely with New Zealand police and a high-tech crime unit, and were thus unable to comment on any details regarding the investigation.
However, as previously reported by IIB, the blockchain analysis firm Elementus thoroughly analyzed the Ethereum public blockchain and revealed that a total of $16 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) and ERC-20 tokens had been stolen during the initial hack.
The same firm later revealed that an additional $180,000 worth of Ethereum was siphoned from 17,000 Cryptopia wallets in the weeks following the initial attack.
As Elementus initially suspected, the hackers gained full control over Cryptopia’s private keys and were able to continuously withdraw funds as unsuspecting Cryptopia users topped up their wallets.
Cryptopia Finally Providing Updates
While the updates from Elementus were very informative, it’s nice to know that Cryptopia is now able to comment on the investigation and share official updates with those affected.
Following their initial recent update about the percentage of stolen funds, Cryptopia notified users via Twitter that they are securing each wallet individually to ensure the exchange is secure when they begin trading:
Update: We are securing each wallet individually to ensure the exchange is fully secure when we resume trading.
We have more updates to come today, please keep an eye on our page.— Cryptopia Exchange (@Cryptopia_NZ) February 27, 2019
Following this last update, the exchange urged users to refrain from depositing funds into their old Cryptopia addresses, as they have been compromised and will not be recovered.
Update: As a result of the new wallets please immediately refrain from depositing funds into old Cryptopia addresses.
We have more updates to come tomorrow, keep an eye on our page.— Cryptopia Exchange (@Cryptopia_NZ) February 27, 2019
Cryptopia will be releasing further updates via Twitter over the coming days and users are urged to keep an eye on their page.
Would you trade with Cryptopia once their exchange goes live again? Will the exchange reimburse users who last funds in the hack? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
