Famous cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia was hacked. This team confirmed that through a security hole in this exchange, the thieves were successful in stealing a high amount of money in a hacking attempt.
Considerable Damage
New Zealand-based exchange Cryptopia which suffered damages through a security hole, is currently out of service. Based on an announcement published on January 5, 2019, on this company’s official tweeter account, the inflicted damages are considerable, “we apologize to you because of our services unavailability and appreciate your patience. On January 14 this year, cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia suffered a security breach and sustained considerable damages. After identifying this security hole by employees, trades of the exchange became unavailable for repairs and updating.”
The amount of damages was not reported in this announcement.
However, in the last 43 hours, an Ethereum transaction was made. The Hacken Group announced on tweeter after tracing this transaction in Blockchain network that 19390 Ethereums had been transferred from Cryptopia wallet to an unknown address. The value of the transferred Ethereums amounts to more than $2.5 million. When users want to enter Cryptopia website, they see the following message:
Currently, the services of Cryptopia are in repair and maintenance mode; soon you will be able to enter the website. We apologize for this occurrence; we are trying to make services available to you as soon as possible.
It needs to be mentioned that the first tweet of this exchange regarding the update was published on January 13, 2019:
“Until further notice, we are repairing and updating our services, and we are trying to make our services available to you esteemed users once again. We will keep you posted.”
This tweet is from two days ago.
The First Hacked Exchange in 2019
Cryptopia exchange is the first cryptocurrency exchange to be hacked in 2019. This news was quickly spread throughout the cryptocurrency community and gained a lot of attention. One of the well-known Bitcoin exchange owners named Whale Pand said that despite the market’s falling trend, an exchange getting hacked is an interesting story. Small exchanges have a tight competition to survive in this condition. This means that it’s not possible for members of this currency to sabotage and thieve.
This news has not yet made any motion in the market.
Currently, the exchange’s team of employees have announced that government agencies, New Zealand police, and anti-technology crime unit are aware of this matter and are dealing with it.
An announcement has been published about this matter on New Zealand’s police website:
“Police was informed about an illicit transaction in the cryptocurrency trades company Cryptopia, which is located in the city of Christchurch New Zealand, in the last hours of yesterday. It is possible that a considerable amount of cryptocurrency was stolen in this incident and the police is diligently following up on it. To understand this incident fully, we are talking with the company. An investigating team comprised of special and expert police officers will be formed in the city of Christchurch. While investigating this incident, the police will cooperate with respective organizations in and out of New Zealand. At the moment, the investigation is in the primary stages, and the police cannot divulge any more information. We expect to get more information in this regard.”
Cryptopia announced to users in its official tweeter account that by the request of police, it cannot update information and asked users to follow this exchange’s social media networks.
New Zealand-based exchange Cryptopia, is one of the most reliable exchanges in the field of cryptocurrencies. There are large numbers of cryptocurrencies in this exchange, and you can exchange Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Tether to and from one another. Cryptopia offers services in all countries, and its trading fee is 0.2 percent. In addition to two-way changing of cryptocurrencies, Cryptopia introduces the closest market that you can refer to receive your desired service.
www.counos.io 