QuadrigaCX CEO Dies With the Only Password That Can Unlock $190 Million of Investors

Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX was much in the controversies as the news came out saying that its CEO Gerald Cotten has passed away. Since the death incidence has occurred, the exchange platform was constantly in troubles.

Now more shocking update is that the CEO hasn’t shared the password to a laptop that contained the business’s records. Due to this, an amount of $190 million has been locked out. Cotten reportedly died in December due to complications of Crohn’s disease. After that in January this year, the firm filed for bankruptcy protection in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.

Jennifer Robertson, Cotten’s widow, revealed in a sworn affidavit filed last week saying that the exchange firm owes customers around $190 million in cryptocurrency and cash. Robertson also noted that Cotten held “sole responsibility for handling the funds and coins.” further, on the website, QuadrigaCX said that it is trying weeks to locate and secure the crypto assets.

However, a cryptocurrency portal named Zerononcense Blog has published a report which entirely disagrees to what the official statements of QuadrigaCX say. The summary of the report states that apparently, there are no identifiable cold wallet reserves for QuadrigaCX. It adds that QuadrigaCX had cryptocurrency reserves of under $100 million. This report also shows the evidence which indicates that an entity had access to the wallets after Cotten died. The research says, “It does not appear that QuadrigaCX has lost access to their Bitcoin holdings.” It adds,

“It is worth noting that there are several outgoing transactions that have been made since the alleged date of Gerald Cotten’s passing (December 9th, 2018).”

Some other factors also put the exchange platform in a circle of doubt. QuadrigaCX didn’t give any immediate response to a request for comment sent to its Twitter account. An email sent to its team also wasn’t immediately answered. Previously, the exchange was involved in legal trouble with a Canadian bank that had frozen around $19.6 million in the exchange’s accounts. In that legal combat, the court ruling came in favor of the bank. In the case, the judge cited an inability to identify the funds’ owners.