• New Zealand law enforcement has announced that Cryptopia has been cleared to resume operations
• This comes weeks after the exchange suffered a hack and shut down while the crime was investigated
• The exchange’s website, so far, is still non-functional

On January 14, 2019, New Zealand based crypto exchange Cryptopia was hacked and lost a reported $23 million in one of the first major hacks that took place in 2019. A day later, the exchange made this known to its users via twitter:

“Yesterday 14th January 2019, the Cryptopia Exchange suffered a security breach which resulted in significant losses.”

They also announced that the matter had been reported to local police who would be investigating what had happened. Since then, the exchange has paused operations and is under maintenance.

All clear to resume

It has now come to light that law enforcement has given the exchange permission to resume activities, though the site remains non-operational.

This information comes via Detective Inspector Greg Murton, who worked on the case and has stated that the exchange isn’t being prevented from resuming their operations but instead, has been given the green light:

“We have finished the main part of the work required by the High Tech Crime Group at Cryptopia’s business premises, although HTCG staff remain there finishing up aspects of their work.”

“Cryptopia management have full access to their facilities and business premises and the Police investigation is not preventing their business from getting up and running again.”

Despite this, the exchange is still not opened yet and its management is yet to address why this is.

Dispelling false rumours

The inspector also took time to dispel a few rumors relating to the case. When the news first broke, there were speculations of just how much was lost and in what form they were lost. While the inspector didn’t give details, he stated that many who commented misunderstood how cryptocurrency transfers worked.

He also denied rumors that the hacks continued even after police interference and that stolen funds had been identified and frozen in other exchanges.

Finally, he made it known that Cryptopia was very cooperative during the investigation process and that rumors that the police force stormed their premises are false.

Now crypto users are waiting for either an official statement from Cryptopia management or for the site to resume operations.