Tag Archives: Gerald Cotten

Not what you want to hear…

…if you’ve invested in cryptocurrency. Found on gizmodo.com and written by Tom McKay:

Crypto exchange says it can’t repay $190 million to clients after founder dies with only password

At the risk of giving away everything in the article, let me quote the first paragraph in it:

Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX says it cannot repay most of $190 million in client holdings after its 30-year-old founder Gerald Cotten, the only person who knew the passwords to its “cold storage,” unexpectedly died in India in December 2018.

While I suppose one shouldn’t generalize, reading this sure makes it sound like investing in crypto currency is at the very, very least… risky? And that maybe, just maybe, there should be more guardrails/regulations involved in crypto currency exchanges to avoid something so seemingly …stupid… from happening to one’s investments, no? Especially when they come to $190 million!

Here’s the thing, and I really do hate sounding like some kind of conspiracy theorist… but isn’t this rather convenient?

Also from the article (the bolding is by me):

Some other reporting has suggested it is possible some of the funds in question moved after the case was publicized, and though the evidence was not definitive, it and the strange circumstances of Cotten’s death spurred accusations that his demise was either faked or the pretext for an exit scam by other parties with access to the holdings, according to CCN. However, Robertson included a death certificate in the filings, CoinDesk wrote.

According to CBC, the government confirmed a Canadian had died in India, but could not offer more details due to privacy laws.

Okay then.

Granted, evidence of funds being moved after the date Mr. Cotten supposedly died was “not definitive” and therefore we cannot say for sure some funny business happened, it is weird that beyond a death certificate we can’t get more evidence to prove he did indeed pass away.

But, even if he did pass away in India and hasn’t “faked” his death to cover some financial crime, who’s to say Mr. Cotten was the only person to have that password? Is it possible someone else within his company or family had that password and maybe used it after the fact?

Pure speculation, mind you, and based on the article alone there’s absolutely no reason to believe anything beyond what’s presented.

Still, the whole situation is beyond weird.