Breaking News: Cryptopia Exchange Hacked
January 15, 2019 by Paul de Havilland
The Cryptopia exchange has been hacked. The exchange announced to users it had been hacked a day after it underwent unscheduled maintenance and almost two days after a suspicious ether withdrawal from the exchange worth around $2.5 million USD occurred.
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New Zealand-Based Exchange Latest Victim to Hackers, First For 2019
New Zealand’s popular and high-profile exchange, Cryptopia, announced it had suffered “significant losses” in a hack and was undergoing “unscheduled maintenance”. New Zealand law enforcement officials have been notified and are working on an investigation, with hopes of finding the culprit.
The exchange announced today the news to users on Twitter, declaring a hack had taken place on January 14th:
— Cryptopia Exchange (@Cryptopia_NZ) January 15, 2019
Accessing the exchange’s website shows a maintenance notice:
When Did The Hack Take Place?
There are many questions regarding the timing of the hack in relation to the announcement. On January 14th, Cryptopia tweeted that it was undergoing “unscheduled maintenance”:
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
The day before, etherscan reveals a transaction of around 19,390 ether from the exchange. Cryptopia’s rankings have tumbled on a 24-hour volume basis since the hack, but before the hack it was about the 123rd largest in the world. It had gained a reputation as a go-to exchange for altcoins with little future in the crypto industry.
Influential cryptotwitter identity @WhalePanda was quick to jump to the offense, claiming the exchange was fast becoming irrelevant:
Looks like @Cryptopia_NZ got “hacked”.
Cryptopia used to be very popular at one point but has since then become mostly irrelevant.https://t.co/Fzb110s7Gc— WhalePanda (@WhalePanda) January 15, 2019
His tweet was followed by an accusation from @invest_pal that there was something unbecoming about the chain of events. If the exchange was hacked on the 14th, who moved $2.5 million worth of ether off it the day before?
On 14th January, Cryptopia “suffers a security breach.”
Just one day ago, 13th January, they were moving money out.
What a coincidence! pic.twitter.com/eEUJ1O4Rod
— InvestPal (@invest_pal) January 15, 2019
Fuzz On The Scene
New Zealand law enforcement, will likely investigate this “coincidence”. It is somewhat unlikely that an inside job exit scam took place, given the size of the 13th transaction would only raise suspicions. A more intelligent exit scam would have taken place via smaller amounts over a longer period of time.
Have your say. Did you sustain losses in the Cryptopia hack?
Images via Pixabay, Cryptopia
