Hot off the press -
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/109950329/police-probe-cryptocurrency-transactions-at-christchurch-firm -
Police probe cryptocurrency transactions after 'security breach' at Christchurch trading company - Anna Loren
22:43, Jan 15 2019 -
http://archive.is/8lStcA "significant amount" of cryptocurrency is thought to have been transferred without authorisation at the Christchurch trading company Cryptopia.
A police statement said officers were advised late on Monday of "an issue involving potential unauthorised transaction activity".
Police were taking the matter "very seriously", the statement said.
"We are currently talking to the company to gain a further understanding of what has occurred.
"A dedicated investigation team is being established in Christchurch including specialist police staff with expertise in this area."
Police said the investigation was still in its "very early" stages, but an update was expected on Wednesday.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Cryptopia said it had suffered a "security breach" on January 14 which resulted in "significant losses".
The cryptocurrency exchange had been put into maintenance while staff assessed the damages, it said.
"Staff then notified and involved the appropriate Government agencies, including NZ Police and High Tech Crimes Unit who are jointly and actively investigating the matter as a major crime and they are assisting us with advice.
"Until this has been carried out, the Cryptopia Exchange will remain in maintenance mode, with trading suspended."
Cryptopia was founded by Rob (Hex) Dawson and Adam Clark as a hobby three years ago.
It now has more than 1.4 million users.
It offers trading in a number of different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Litecoin and Doge.
Cryptopia freezes trading in markets due to surge in demand -
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/100411729/cryptopia-freezes-trading-in-markets-due-to-surge-in-demand - Susan Edmunds
20:45, Jan 08 2018 -
http://archive.is/oiwHXA New Zealand cryptocurrency trading firm has had to suspend some of its trading activity because of a market frenzy.
Christchurch-based Cryptopia had 100,000 new user registrations in one day on Sunday. Its membership doubled from 500,000 to 1 million over December. A year ago, it only had 30,000 users.
Business development manager Adam Lyness said it had had to suspend trading in two basemarkets, in the Doge and Litecoin currencies, to keep up with demand.
Suspending the activity in those smaller markets allowed it to continue to cater for trading in the bigger markets, such as Bitcoin.
That decision was made to affect the lowest number of users possible, he said.
"We haven't suspended trading in any specific tokens per se, but a small number of tokens may only be listed on those base markets. This was the option that had the least user impact."
He said Cryptopia was doing what it could to get all markets active again but it could take some time.
"It should be noted that users are able to withdraw tokens to external wallets or other sites at any time, we're not 'holding' their funds."
He said no user money had been lost or stolen.
In an update posted on its website, Cryptopia founder Rob Dawson said he was aware of concerns about the level of service it could offer.
"That is not due to any complacency on our part, rest assured that we are hiring people and developing the processes to manage those people to grow with the demand we're facing and scale as best we can."
One user, Canadian Dustin Picov, has US$20,000 (NZ$27,892) on the platform. He said he had seen his money in the Doge currency increase in value by 100 per cent since Friday but he could not sell because trading on the market was frozen. "Why can't they let us trade for a few minutes and halt Bitcoin?"
He said his account had been locked after he complained.
Lyness said one user's account had been temporarily suspended because he had been making physical threats against staff.
Cryptopia is registered on the Financial Services Providers Register in New Zealand. Currency trading, including cryptocurrencies, is an unlicensed activity but providers still have "fair dealing" obligations.
From a two-man operation a year ago, Cryptopia surges on bitcoin -
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/100421588/from-a-twoman-operation-a-year-ago-cryptopia-surges-on-bitcoin - Chris Hutching
09:58, Jan 10 2018 -
http://archive.is/3Svl4The Christchurch firm at the centre of some of the frenzied bitcoin trading in recent days evolved from a two-man operation in 2014 to employing more than 50 today.
The bitcoin computer currency was this week trading at a value of between $20,000 and $22,000, down from $28,114 on December 17, but well ahead of its $1200 level a year ago.
Rob (Hex) Dawson and Adam Clark started the cryptocurrency trading platform, Cryptopia, as a hobby nearly three years ago.
They quit their jobs about a year ago and put all their savings into Cryptopia as a full time enterprise, although they were unsure at the time how much future it had.
Fast forward 12 months, and their big challenge is coping with the tsunami of business, largely due to trading in bitcoin.
The massive surge in newcomers registering and trading on Cryptopia caused problems in recent days, requiring Cryptopia to suspend some trading.
This raised security concerns, partly due to the volume of financial activity, and the sharp and even threatening reactions from traders as systems struggled to cope with the unprecedented action.
The figures tell the story – a year ago Cryptopia had 30,000 users, rising to 1 million in December 2017.
After the first week of January, the number of users hit 1.4 million, causing difficulties in managing the site and requiring suspension of some trading and registrations.
Dawson said staff were working overtime to raise levels of service, more people were being hired, and the company was developing processes as quickly as possible to cope with the demand.
"We're in an unprecedented time with adoption and interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain surging and Cryptopia is dedicated to being a quality service provider in this evolving landscape," he said in a letter to users.
"Please bear with us, as we know how frustrating it can be for users involved in issues impacting their ability to transact freely, but we're in an unprecedented time."
Dawson said there were considerable costs for the business even as turnover rose. Cryptopia paid fees for being hosted on more than 100 servers around the world. The company was also making large donations to charities.
Even so, general manager Dave Sanders said it was an amazing milestone for a small regional company to boast higher trading volume than the New Zealand Stock Exchange currently.
Dawson and Clark have extensive backgrounds in software development background in technology firms in Christchurch.
