[4] Blockchain analysts have reported that they are unable to find evidence of Quadriga's cold wallets on the blockchain, a public ledger used for cryptocurrencies. A new documentary on his mysterious death called Dead Man's Switch: A Crypto Mystery, airing on Discovery+, looks into accusations the crypto king made off with millions in investors' cash. "[40][41], Ernst & Young found five Quadriga cold wallet addresses, but they were empty, containing no cryptocurrency since April 2018. Quadriga started by doing only local trades. Cotten had allegedly told his wife he would create a mechanism that would allow her to access all of his crypto-related passwords should he die but. Indeed, QuadrigaCX launched just three months after sceptre put out a call to build a crypto exchange. 4 people named Gerald Betzen found in California, Texas and Massachusetts. It apparently had no formal accounting system. [17] In a 2014 interview, founder Gerald Cotten explained that the company stored customer funds on paper wallets in safe deposit boxes: "So we just send money to them, we dont need to go back to the bank every time we want to put money into it. Was he avoiding something or someone? Both Canadas tax authorities and the FBI are also investigating the company. The doctor stated that while dying from Crohns disease is very rare, Cotten appeared to show signs of illness and suffered from three heart attacks in the same day the paramedics were unable to resuscitate him after his third cardiac arrest. Cotten passed away from complications that arose from Crohns disease while on a honeymoon in Indiaapparently taking some $215 million of customer funds to the grave. Lawyers representing investors in what BBC. Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King. While Robertson has possession of the laptop containing the necessary passwords, she remains locked out. Gerald Gerry Cotten is the founder of Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga Fintech Solutions and is at the helm of a groundbreaking investment scam that the Netflix documentary investigates. The Netflix documentary will follow investors-turned-investigators looking into theories on the founder's sudden death. Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King is now streaming on Netflix. G erald Cotten was 15 when he ran his first documented get-rich-quick scheme. [32] It also stated that Quadriga has 363,000 registered users and a sum of C$250 million is owed to 115,000 affected users. Cotten was the only one with access to necessary permissions. Someone tracked Patryn to a scam forum called TalkGold, where Patryn talked to one user in particular, sceptre, a bunch. The sudden death of Gerald Cotten in December 2018 plunged the world of cryptocurrency into chaos. Cotten encrypted and stored about $190 million worth of his customers' Bitcoin caches and held sole responsibility for the passwords needed to access those funds. Zou trusted Quadriga CX, Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange, with C$500,000 (305,000). pic.twitter.com/rGymJ5f9Or. Like other crypto-exchanges, Quadriga kept its funds in so-called cold wallets, digital storage devices not connected to the internet, which are safe from hacking. Gerald Cotten, the founder of QuadrigaCX, was thought to have had sole access to the funds and coins exchanged on it. Cotten passed away from complications that arose from Crohns disease while on a honeymoon in Indiaapparently taking some $215 million of customer funds to the grave. So his spiral down into a life of crime was either pure greed or him seeking the thrill. He hopes the Netflix doc will get authorities to "move their asses and do something about it" but also to raise awareness "so it doesn't happen to other people". In December 2018, Cotten died during his honeymoon with his wife, Jennifer Robertson, in Jaipur, India. Cotten told a Globe and Mail reporter that the banks, which didnt trust crypto exchanges, had frozen the exchanges bank accounts. No longer a likable nerd, investors thought that Gerald, now sceptre, had been operating scams since he was 15. His wife Jennifer Robertson said he had promised to create a mechanism that turned thepasswords over to her when he died. When Quadriga CEO Gerald Cotten died suddenly in 2018, the passcodes for his cryptocurrency exchange died with him. Quadriga Fintech Solutions was the owner and operator of QuadrigaCX, which was believed to be Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange.In 2019 the exchange ceased operations and the company filed for bankruptcy with C$215.7 million in liabilities and about C$28 million in assets.. [16] In 2014 only C$7.4 million worth of bitcoin were exchanged on Quadriga. Jennifer Robertson, the widow of QuadrigaCX founder Gerald (Gerry) Cotten, will be allowed to keep more than $90,000 cash and a Jeep Cherokee in a settlement agreement with the company's bankruptcy trustee. , and found an affidavit from Robertson saying that she didnt understand how QuadrigaCX operatedeven though one of Robertsons companies later wired cash to some of Quadrigas customers. Some have speculated his death was a clever ruse and there have been calls to have his body exhumed to prove it was a "fake". After some more digging, the reporter found an order form filled out by one Gerald Cotten. Someone tracked Patryn to a scam forum called TalkGold, where Patryn talked to one user in particular, sceptre, a bunch. ", QuadrigaCX founder used aliases, moved assets into personal accounts: report, "Quadriga Crypto Mystery Deepens With 'Cold Wallets' Found Empty", "After founder's sudden death, cryptocurrency exchange can't access $190 million in holdings", "Crypto Mystery: Quadriga's Wallets Are Empty, Putting Fate Of $137 Million in Doubt", "Unable to Retrieve Money, Cryptocurrency Investors Want Dead Executive Exhumed", Crypto exchange Quadriga was a fraud and founder was running Ponzi scheme, OSC report finds, QuadrigaCX: A Review by Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission, Quadriga CEO's widow speaks out over his death and the missing crypto millions, "Quadriga Accidentally Moved More Bitcoin to an Inaccessible Wallet", "Quadriga Founder's Widow Seeks Repayment of Her Costs", "Quadriga Lawyer Withdraws Amid Conflict of Interest Concerns", "Hot Docs Shane Smith: Weve crossed the digital divide", "Exit Scam: A Podcast Series about the Death and Afterlife of Gerald Cotten", "More than $400,000 in QuadrigaCX cryptocurrency disappears into 'cold wallet', "Before Quadriga: How shady ventures in Gerald Cotten's youth led to the creation of his ill-fated cryptocurrency exchange", "Widow of Quadriga crypto founder Gerald Cotten says she had no idea about the $215-million scam", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quadriga_Fintech_Solutions&oldid=1141935834, Financial services companies established in 2013, Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in Canada, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 17:09. In her memoir, Ms Robertson denies shes part of an elaborate plot to fake her husbands death, adding that speculation has led to death threats from stalkers demanding she returns the missing millions. I'm 99% sure he is still alive living nicely. A C$100,000 trust fund was made to provide lifelong care for Cotten's two chihuahuas in case of Robertson's death. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Everyone knows the story about the now-defunct QuadrigaCX . I took out three loans from the bank and put it all into crypto. But the money, of course, was still missing. The funeral, according to a Redditor claiming to be a contractor for QuadrigaCX, said that it was a closed-casket affair, and that Jennifer was fake grieving and dancing at the funeral to bacchanalian excess, and even kicked out Geralds family. [48], On 5 February 2019, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Michael J. "I kept asking them: Where's my money? Still, questions about the missing money only mounted when two Globe and Mail reporters followed up on the case. California (2) Massachusetts (1) Texas (2) Refine Your Search Results. Something was afoot. Still, all this evidence was circumstantialinvestors hadnt yet found a smoking gun. "I couldn't get any sleep. ET. Evidence of him faking death: There's lots of bizaare things that are suspicious. While the large increase in volume increased commissions, it also caused cash-flow problems due to the exchange's reliance on external payment processors and its lack of a proper accounting system. - Watch Full Details ! But pour in it did. Fake trading: I'm almost certain that he was trading with fake crypto, Chris Markay was one of the accounts that Cotten used to trade his "crypto" he also is known to have other aliases Sceptre Gerry, Aretwo Deetwo and Seethree Peaohh. "At that point, we were desperate to recover funds and we were also convinced that a scam was underway," said QCX-INT, an individual who uncovered online documentation of Mr Cottens history of fraudulent behaviour, speaking anonymously to the CBC this year. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. TRUST NO ONE: THE HUNT FOR THE CRYPTO KING, a DONT F*CK WITH CATS-style investigative thriller, is now streaming on Netflix. The podcast was hosted by Takara Small. He was able to keep the venture, called S&S Investments, going for three months, before it folded and investors money was gone. Gerald Cotten was the talk of the cryptocurrency world in Canada after he introduced QuadrigaCX, a place where investors could buy and sell cryptocurrency. Mr Patryn pled guilty in 2005 to working in an identity fraud ring, and did business under a company called Midas Gold as an intermediary with Liberty Reserve, a Costa Rican digital currency firm busted as one of the largest money laundering operations in history. Finally, the OSC discovered something that cracked the case wide open. Conspiracy theorists insist that Cotten faked his own death, however, as many irregularities surrounding his death began to circulate, including a copy of his misspelled death certificate and the fact that his funeral had a closed casket. Gerald Cotten had an estimated net worth of $80 million at the time of his death. Reported by Fansided, Globe and Mail journalist Nathan Vanderklippe spoke to Dr. Sharma, who dealt with Cotten when he came into the hospital. In January 2014 they installed the second Bitcoin ATM in Vancouver. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops delivered daily to your inbox. Quadriga's customers are owed C$260 million in cryptocurrency and cash. When Canadian blockchain whiz Gerald Cotten died unexpectedly last year, hundreds of millions of dollars in investor funds vanished into the crypto ether. "At that time, there was nothing I could do. By Robin Hill-Gray. His body was embalmed and sent back to Canada for a closed-casket funeral. Either the funds were never received or quickly went missing. Image Credit: CTV Your Morning/YouTube. Gerald Cotten was the founder of one of Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Quadriga CX. [30], According to Jennifer Robertson, Cotten's widow, he died on 9 December 2018 while travelling in India. He would grow up to be a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and run Canadas largest crypto exchange, QuadrigaCX, before dying under bizarre circumstances in 2018, leaving investors looking for a missing $180 million Canadian dollars. Netflixs documentary definitely seems to be in the corner that Cotten did die, despite the mystery surrounding his death. Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk, Ring removes free perks for millions of users, you'll have pay to get them back, Android users told check for five Google 'danger phrases' don't ignore list, Facebook's hidden list reveals if you're a 'target' for criminals, People are just realizing Apple upgraded the iPhone with 7 life-changing secrets, 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Tong Zou tells his devastating story in new Netflix doc, Gerald 'Gerry' Cotten died in 2018, taking password to access funds with him. (His wife says he is in fact dead and witnessed his funeral). [7][8], Quadriga co-founder Michael Patryn was identified by The Globe and Mail as Omar Dhanani, who was convicted on identity theft charges in the U.S. and served 18 months in Federal prison. Living a jet set life, he cruised the world on yachts, flew in private jets and investigators even released photos of piles of cash on his kitchen table. Retrieved 18 January 2022. Its the swindler story you havent heard of until now. In December of 2018, the jet-setting crypto couple headed to India for their honeymoon, where Mr Cotten died of complications from Crohns disease, 12 days after modifying his will. Jennifer, scared for her safety, entered a safe house. [2], In January 2019 Ernst & Young reported that Quadriga did not have a bank account, but instead used third-party payment processors. Using a reputable custodian to hold the private keys outside the company is perhaps the best option to ensure these codes are not lost, Erik Wilgenhof Plante, the former CCO of the exchange BeQuant, told The Independent at the time. Trust No One depicts Cotten as a nerdy, happy-go-lucky, and charming CEO, who was knee-deep in Bitcoin and a fierce advocate of the technology. [37] According to an affidavit by the CEO's widow, approximately 115,000 customers are owed C$250 million (US$190 million), most of which was cryptocurrency held in Quadriga's cold wallet in the laptop that only the deceased CEO had access to. The OSC tugged on the same thread, but neither could get hold of him. An official investigation concluded that Quadriga was"an old-fashioned fraud wrapped in modern technology". X-rays. Fifteen years later, Mr Cotten, known as Gerry, would be accused of swindling people online of a much bigger prize. Robertson has denied any knowledge of her husband's wrongdoing - and in 2019 returned $9million to the company to repay users. At the time, he was the CEO of QuadrigaCX, a company that performed cryptocurrency exchanges. His wife has said she was "upset and disappointed" to learn about the extent of the fraud at her husbands company, writing in a 2019 statement, she wasnt aware or involved in Gerrys trading activities, nor his appropriation of customer funds." Was the CEOknown for his luxurious lifestyle, which included jets, supercars and vacationsmurdered by a mob debt collector or a jealous lover? Gerald Cotten. Dying from Crohn's disease when only 1.6% of sufferers from this disease die of it and to happen to die from . Gerald Cotten is allegedly meant to have died from Crohn's disease after the exchange crashed. I put myself into a deep hole and the only way to dig out of it was to sell my house.. Cotten's widow has rarely spoken publicly, but in an affidavit has described herself as being subject to "slanderous comments" over accusations her husband faked his death.