Marketplace users who have suffered from a hacker attack need to verify their accounts and data on a special portal
The Cryptopia exchange, which stopped working after the hacker hack, expects to start accepting applications for the return of user assets by the end of 2020. Affected clients of the company will need to verify their accounts and data on a special portal. Until this process is completed, the disbursement procedure cannot be started.
"The exchange had over 900,000 users and supported up to 900 different coins, so the process will not be quick," said Grant Thornton, an auditing firm that is liquidating Cryptopia.
According to the court's decision, if possible, the payment of funds to clients should take place in cryptocurrency. The auditor emphasized that only he owns the exchange database, so any other offers of assistance in refunds should be considered fraudulent.
Cryptopia customers were eligible for a refund on April 8, 2020. The High Court of Christchurch, New Zealand, ruled that cryptocurrency is property under the country's laws. This means that digital assets belong to users and cannot be classified as debt, that is, participate in the bankruptcy estate to pay off obligations to creditors.
In January last year, hackers hacked into New Zealand's Cryptopia exchange. About 10% of the total assets were stolen from it. According to the company Elementus, initially the company's losses amounted to $ 16 million, after which the criminals withdrew another $ 180,000 from the clients' wallets. The company tried to return to work, but in May 2019 announced its closure.