Pre court hearing update - Cryptopia Account Holder

[UmerIdrees]

I got an email from

Code:

cryptopia-offer@mail.principalityofcogito.com

with the subject of "Pre court hearing update", which stated that Cogito is willing to buy my coin holdings in Cryptopia. I feel this is a scam attempt to get my personal details and is not linked with Cryptopia in any way.

Posting the whole email below so people can be aware of what it is all about.

Note: If this is a legit email / offer , then also do let me know. Thanks

Dear Cryptopia Account Holder

You will have received recently an offer from Cogito to buy your coin holding in Cryptopia. Following a few questions through our help desk we have put together a few key answers to questions.


1. The agreement to purchase your coins for C500 Cog is a purchase regardless of your coin value under $500. So if you have $499 worth of coins you get C500, if you have $2 worth of coins you get C500. So you have nothing to lose.


2. If you have more than $500 worth of coins , you will receive C500 straight away and then a top up of Cog once we get the reconciled value from the liquidator.


3. You don't have to have successfully completed the liquidator’s verification process to be able to accept the offer.


4. Cog is a digital currency that can only be used in the Cogito economy. It is not able to be converted to fiat or moved to any exchange. The Cogito Metaverse is growing every day with many opportunities being developed all the time. Shortly there will be investments available; and in many countries there is a growing number of businesses accepting Cog.


5. The Cogito offer is specifically structured for those people who may have such a small amount it is not worth the effort or the verification process was too hard for a variety of reasons.


6. We are in court in New Zealand for four days starting 13th November to sort the distribution of coins and get some clarity on the process of the Cogito agreement. So time is against everyone, if you are going to accept now would be a good time to do it.


7. We believe now Cogito is the single largest coin holder by value and so we do have strong standing in the courts in New Zealand.


8. If you accept the offer and change your mind you have a 7 day cooling off period.


The link to selling your coins is here : https://principalityofcogito.com/cryptopiaform


Regards

Martin Braine LLB

In House Lawyer

Principality of Cogito


Ps : If you have any questions please free to contact us once logged in to CogitoMetaverse

[stompix]

It is legit and at the same time, it's a scam.
They offer to buy your rights for the sum you claim to have lost on Cryptopia, but you get paid in crap Cog tokens which are useless!
It's a legal way of doing things but you're going to end with nothing, which means they are legally scamming you.

I guess there is news about distribution or it's nearing the end of claim registration?
They've spammed the hell out of everything with their offers lately!

[JollyGood]

Now they have made contact with you, there is a decision you will have to make about whether you wait for the outcome of the Cryptopia case or if you should basically surrender any possible funds you could receive (if the administrators ever made a payout) in exchange for 500 COG. There is a possibility that one day 500 COG might be worth a lot of money if their metaverse becomes a global phenomenon, however, it could become another in a long line of unsuccessful projects.

If I were you, I would stick with the hope of getting my funds back from the liquidators over the Cogito Metaverse unless you are owed more than $500. If it is less you may have to compromise considering how long the Cryptopia saga has gone on for.

I got an email from

Code:

cryptopia-offer@mail.principalityofcogito.com

with the subject of "Pre court hearing update", which stated that Cogito is willing to buy my coin holdings in Cryptopia. I feel this is a scam attempt to get my personal details and is not linked with Cryptopia in any way.

Posting the whole email below so people can be aware of what it is all about.

Note: If this is a legit email / offer , then also do let me know. Thanks

Dear Cryptopia Account Holder

~snip~

[PX-Z]

I also received such email but i doubt its legitimacy because i receive emails from "no-reply@cryptopia.co.nz" way back on month of august regarding the claimant portal and other subjects, so why they use such different emails to notify their users.

[Timelord2067]

There was an eerily quick follow up email by GT which bordered on rambling followed by a second email from the above essentially reiterating the offer.

IN A NUTSHELL (their words, not mine):  are owed less than $500 in dust - take the offer.  Are owed more than $500 in crypto, take your chances with GT who are (again, their words) draining the funds with their fees.

GT are attending court as we speak.

[coupable]

I also received such email but i doubt its legitimacy because i receive emails from "no-reply@cryptopia.co.nz" way back on month of august regarding the claimant portal and other subjects, so why they use such different emails to notify their users.

I was also surprised by this offer for two reasons:
Firstly, I did not receive this offer even though my account on Cryptopia had more than $500 in trading assets and I lost hope of recovering them since I did not verify my identity on the platform throughout my use of it, and therefore I cannot prove my ownership of the account except through email. . I had forgotten about it and didn't look into it much.
Secondly, because I find it strange that this party presenting the offer is aware of the accounts that contain assets on Cryptopia and has their email addresses as well. How could this happen while the case is awaiting trial?

[rat03gopoh]

My prediction is that in the results of the trial you will get the right to return your money, regardless of the claim verification process, this situation is actually in your favor. Then, a company comes along and offers a $0 token, the situation changes back to 50/50 odds.
To convince you: With that kind of fundraising method, will the token become viable? I think many former Cryptopia users don't want to take on this uncertainty.

[Kemarit]

And the question is how this people get your email by the way? And I doubt that the court is going to released this information to the public.

And to add what @stompix if ever someone decided to sell it and get their COG? How and where you are going to sell them? So it's a big risk, and we don't know what will happen to COG in the future. Maybe if this is not a scam and then a lot of them avail of this COG and suddenly sell everything they got, the price will obviously be affected and will go down.

[JollyGood]

I also received such email but i doubt its legitimacy because i receive emails from "no-reply@cryptopia.co.nz" way back on month of august regarding the claimant portal and other subjects, so why they use such different emails to notify their users.

I think the email is genuine in the sense it is from Principality of Cogito and they have contacted all those that had accounts with Cryptopia. How they were given the email addresses? Somehow they must have approached Grant Thornton with this idea and somehow they convinced them to hand over email addresses (which might actually be in breach of some data protection laws).

There was an eerily quick follow up email by GT which bordered on rambling followed by a second email from the above essentially reiterating the offer.

IN A NUTSHELL (their words, not mine):  are owed less than $500 in dust - take the offer.  Are owed more than $500 in crypto, take your chances with GT who are (again, their words) draining the funds with their fees.

Do you think there is something in this for Grant Thornton apart from the obvious moving along of Cryptopia victims?

My prediction is that in the results of the trial you will get the right to return your money, regardless of the claim verification process, this situation is actually in your favor. Then, a company comes along and offers a $0 token, the situation changes back to 50/50 odds.
To convince you: With that kind of fundraising method, will the token become viable? I think many former Cryptopia users don't want to take on this uncertainty.

If Cryptopia victims with c.$500 were able to exchange their outstanding funds for $500 of COG on the understanding they could cash out immediately and get that $500 COG in BTC, they would probably do it immediately.

Even those with higher owed amounts would probably do it but right now COG is worthless therefore they would have to reject this offer.

[Timelord2067]

Do you think there is something in this for Grant Thornton apart from the obvious moving along of Cryptopia victims?

If it ever came out that GT was acting outside of their obligation by The Court to act on behalf of the Cryptopia members then I'm sure The Courts would take a dim, dark view of that outcome and act accordingly.

[JollyGood]

As this is business, I would not be surprised if under the table deals were offered but i guess we have no evidence therefore it is a non-starter. Having said that, what if it is more of a genuine case where one company is asking the liquidator to pass on their offer to all Cryptopia victims? I personally would not have an issue with it but the initial email should have come from Grant Thornton explaining why they were allowing Principality of Cogito to contact them.

Also, instead of giving them the email address database, it would have been better for Grant Thornton to have attached a pdf from Principality of Cogito thus avoiding direct contact between Cryptopia victims and Principality of Cogito. It would be interesting to see how many Cryptopia victims take up the offer.

Do you think there is something in this for Grant Thornton apart from the obvious moving along of Cryptopia victims?

If it ever came out that GT was acting outside of their obligation by The Court to act on behalf of the Cryptopia members then I'm sure The Courts would take a dim, dark view of that outcome and act accordingly.

[examplens]

It is difficult to recognize what is a scam when it comes to Cryptopia.
Offers sent by impersonators or emails from genuine Cryptopia. But I got a warning from them even earlier.

Dear Cryptopia Account Holder,

Unsolicited communication
It has been brought to our attention that a number of Cryptopia Account holders have received an unsolicited email from the Hong Kong company “Classic Focus Limited” ("CFL") outlining a proposal to purchase their claim in exchange for a supposed digital coin.

The sole director of CFL is known to the Liquidators as having been found in contempt by the court for not disposing of Account Holder information that
he improperly obtained. The Liquidators have opened an investigation into how Account Holder's emails were obtained.

Regardless the Liquidators believe it is important to address this unsolicited communication to confirm that this email has nothing to do with the official claims process. The process of distributing account holders' cryptocurrency will be determined at a hearing at the High Court at Wellington on 13–15 November 2023. 

It it important for those considering this proposal to seek independent advice. The Liquidators' view is that this offer is not in the best interest of Account Holders. In particular, we believe it is important to note the following:
Typical asset and fiat-backed digital currencies like Tether and USDC produce proof of their reserves through audits.  While the digital coin COG, mentioned in the CFL proposal, is supposedly backed by assets and traditional fiat currency reserves. There is no independently verifiable audit of its reserves.
The utility of the COG currency is questionable, given there is no named entity, exchange, or business that will accept this coin beyond an associated virtual metaverse and non-physical principality to which the crown prince is the sole director of the Hong Kong company fronting the offer. (You might also ask why a New Zealand-based person uses a Hong Kong company to front this offer.)
Lastly, the CFL Proposal letter claims that the offeror has a relationship with several parties. The Liquidators have an existing relationship with one of those parties. We sought confirmation of their involvement in the CFL proposal, and they have confirmed that they have no knowledge of this offer and are not engaged by CFL in any regard.
The Liquidators encourage all Account Holders (regardless of value held) to register in the claim process, so it is possible to return as much value as possible. One of the legal directions sought is for those who do not participate in the process to bear the cost of the distribution process. This will allow us to return more to smaller holders of Cryptocurrency.

Legal directions
Submissions have now been filed ahead of the hearing date scheduled 13–15 November 2023 in the Wellington High Court (CIV-2023-485-41113-15), in relation to the directions regarding the distribution of Cryptocurrency to Account Holders. Copies of these submissions can be found at the below link.

The full application for directions can be found in our Update for Cryptopia Claimants and Stakeholders 17 August 2023

If you are having trouble with the Claims Portal, please raise a ticket through the Cryptopia Customer Support Portal. This support portal is separate from the claims portal and can be accessed by any account holder, provided they register and click the “Sign Up” button on the page.

Lastly, a reminder that the only official communication from the Liquidators will be sent from a  @cryptopia.co.nz email.  Please take care to ensure that any communications asking you to deposit further funds are not scams.

This is an automated email, please do not reply.
Update for Cryptopia Claimants and Stakeholders - 2 November 2023

here is a link from this email: https://www.grantthornton.co.nz/cryptopia-limited/update-for-cryptopia-claimants-and-stakeholders-2-november-2023/

[UmerIdrees]

As when i forget about Cryptopia (and my loss), i got another email from Cryptopia Claims Portal <no-reply@cryptopia.co.nz>.
The context of the email is copied below. I don't think these comminucation from them is any beneficial to the Cryptopia Account Holders, as i don't think they have any intent to return the money. They are just fulfilling the legal requirements and pretending that they are serious in returning funds.

Dear Cryptopia Account Holder,

Last week the Liquidators released the eleventh statutory report in the liquidation of Cryptopia. We encourage all account holders to read this report that provides an update on the overall claims process which is summarised below.

    Liquidators' Eleventh Report on the State of Affairs of Cryptopia Limited (in Liquidation)

Claim process update
The Liquidators are advanced in the development of stage ‘4a.’ of the claims process:
#    Process    Details
1    Claims registration    Allows the registration of account holders' details
2    Identity verification    Verifies account holders' identities to the necessary verification standard
3    Balance acceptance    Provides account holders the opportunity to agree that Cryptopia records represent amounts due
4a    Asset Distribution – Wallet Address Collection    Allows eligible account holders to submit wallet addresses for each balance qualified to participate in Asset distribution
4b    Asset Distribution – Crypto-asset Return    Returns account holders assets proportional to distribution calculation
Following this collection, we intend to make an interim distribution to those qualifying and registered Bitcoin and Dogecoin holders within the next quarter.

After this distribution is complete, we will follow the approved process including giving notice of any cut-off dates before distributing to account holders the remaining Bitcoin, Dogecoin and all other cryptocurrencies of sufficient value by the end of 2024.

After this primary distribution of cryptocurrencies that are of sufficient value, there may be an additional top-up distribution to account holders, allowing them to receive up to 100% of their holdings.  If this supplementary distribution takes place it should occur before the middle of 2025.
Communications to account holders
We understand third parties have contacted account holders offering to purchase their Cryptopia entitlements in exchange for an obscure digital currency. This agreement requires the assignment or transfer of account holders Cryptopia owed holdings to that third party. 

These third parties might use the name "Cryptopia" in their email address, subject line, or in headings of their communications to account holders.  These communications and approaches are not from the liquidators. 

The official methods of communication from the liquidators to Cryptopia account holders are outlined at the end of this update.

We issued proceedings against these third parties to prevent them from continuing to mislead or confuse account holders. In response the New Zealand Courts has granted injunctions prohibiting these parties from continuing to represent themselves using Cryptopia’s name. We also believe that these third parties communications maybe based on the continued misuse of confidential information released by the High Court in 2020. 

Assignment of claims
The agreement to purchase Cryptopia account holders' cryptocurrency that is mentioned above includes a clause about the assignment of coins to that third party. 

Cryptopia's terms and conditions record that account holders may not assign their rights or obligations. The liquidators consider that the terms and conditions remain in force, and any assignment or transfer of an account holder's entitlements is not binding or enforceable against Cryptopia.  This is explained in more detail in our update on 20 February 2024.

The Court's judgment on the injunction suggests that any sale and purchase agreement entered into as a result of the misuse of Cryptopia's confidential information may be subject to being set aside by the affected account holder.

We recommend that any account holders who have entered into a sale and purchase or assignment agreement with any of these third parties seek independent legal advice.

Reminder about official communications from us and protecting your information

We would like to remind all account holders the only channels we use to communicate with them about the Cryptopia liquidation are:

    Our website: https://www.grantthornton.co.nz/cryptopia-limited/
    Emails sent from no-reply@cryptopia.co.nz
    The claims portal: https://portal.cryptopia.co.nz/
    Our Zendesk customer support portal: https://cryptopia.zendesk.com/

If you are unsure whether a communication is an official communication from us, please raise a helpdesk ticket in Zendesk at the below link. This Zendesk portal is separate from the claims portal and can be accessed by any account holder, provided they register and click the “Sign Up” button on the page.

Account holders should be cautious about providing their Cryptopia account information to third parties.  The claims portal has been designed to verify each account holder's account ownership and identity, and it is very important this sensitive process is protected. 

[DaveF]

Got the same email to an email account that I forgot I had setup to test dealing with some crypto things.

It was empty, as in not even dust, that account never even had a deposit so yes I know it costs nothing to send an email, but it makes you wonder at the process that they are using to not even bother looking to see if the account was ever used at all before sending out emails.

Probably does not matter, but still does not show professionalism IMO.

-Dave

[goldkingcoiner]

That sounds sketchy AF. If it were me, I would not go for that deal. What even are cogs in the first place? Do they even have any value? Can they be sold for that value? What is the liquidity?

[JollyGood]

That sounds about right to me. They have to be seen as fulfilling their legal obligations and for those reasons they will continue to send out all sorts of emails. Let us not forget that Grant Thornton have spent a huge amount of funds on (as they put it) trying to recover all of the assets.

Regardless of the emails, not all victims will be receiving their funds. One of the loopholes that victims were stuck in related to them not wanting to give KYC therefore had to forfeit any assets that belonged to them and they are not happy about it. 

As when i forget about Cryptopia (and my loss), i got another email from Cryptopia Claims Portal <no-reply@cryptopia.co.nz>.
The context of the email is copied below. I don't think these comminucation from them is any beneficial to the Cryptopia Account Holders, as i don't think they have any intent to return the money. They are just fulfilling the legal requirements and pretending that they are serious in returning funds.

[Pmalek]

What even are cogs in the first place? Do they even have any value? Can they be sold for that value? What is the liquidity?

It's a shit token. It's not listed on ConMarketCap or CoinGecko. There is no liquidity on exchanges. The e-mail states that you can't swap if for fiat or exchange it on an exchange for some other asset. It only has some utility on whatever platform that team developed. That makes it worthless outside of the Cogito platform.