Grant Thornton, the firm handling the exchange’s bankruptcy proceedings, has announced that it has started compensating over 10,000 verified users who lost funds during Cryptopia’s infamous 2019 hack, distributing more than 400 million New Zealand dollars (approximately $225 million). The hack, which resulted in the loss of around $16 million in various cryptocurrencies, ultimately led to the collapse of the exchange. Since then, Grant Thornton has been working on distributing the recovered assets through the liquidation process, which was formalized with the launch of the Cryptopia claims portal in 2020. Initial payouts were made in Bitcoin and Dogecoin, with plans for further distributions in the near future.
As the process progresses, Grant Thornton has stated that more funds will be allocated to verified users in the coming months. The liquidation team has also mentioned that any unclaimed assets from users who did not register for the claims portal will be used to enhance payouts, potentially ensuring that all eligible users can recover up to 100% of their initial losses.
With ongoing reminders for remaining Cryptopia account holders to complete the necessary steps to register and confirm their claims, Grant Thornton aims to conclude this phase of the distribution by the beginning of the new year. Despite facing challenges from the hack to insolvency, the exchange, once a prominent player in the New Zealand crypto landscape, continues to make progress in the liquidation process, offering some relief to those affected by the breach.