It seems that Christchurch-based cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia has been unable to recover after malicious cyber attackers stole around $20 million worth of cryptocurrency.

It takes patience to steal more than 7000 Bitcoin (approximately US$41 million) from cryptocurrency exchanges, despite global awareness that such attacks are becoming more prolific.

Exit scam, or just plain bad luck? Investors in one of Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges will be pondering that very question.

New Zealand Police say they are making ‘good progress’ into the investigation of an alleged cryptocurrency theft from Christchurch-based crypto exchange Cryptopia.

Cryptopia has reportedly experienced a security breach that has taken the entire platform offline – and resulted in ‘significant losses’.

“As this technology becomes mainstream, businesses need to keep up with users’ demand for user-friendly products and platforms that cater to all levels of technical skill."

Digital currency exchanges in Austalia must now register with AUSTRAC, and comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act.

The currency is usually encrypted using Blockchain technology that regulates the generation of new units and verifies fund transfers.

BitGrail wasn't known to many until last week when it announced it had been hacked, but many experts believe all is not as it seems.

Centralised exchanges are also prone to price manipulation, DDoS attacks, internal fraud, which KyberNetworks wants to change.