Cryptopia

About Cryptopia

Cryptopia, a New Zealand based cryptocurrency exchange, was hacked in January 2019. Approximately 16 million in cryptocurrency was stolen. The exchange went into liquidation in May 2019. Grant Thornton New Zealand was appointed as liquidator. The liquidation was complicated by the difficulty of identifying which cryptocurrencies belonged to which users. Some users argued they were creditors with specific cryptocurrency claims, while others were general unsecured creditors. The New Zealand High Court ruled that cryptocurrencies were property, establishing an important legal precedent. The liquidation took over four years. Users eventually received distributions in cryptocurrency. The case was one of the first major liquidations of a cryptocurrency exchange and established legal frameworks for handling crypto assets in insolvency.