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A C$100,000 trust fund was made to provide lifelong care for Cotten's two chihuahuas in case of Robertson's death. "[40][41], Ernst & Young found five Quadriga cold wallet addresses, but they were empty, containing no cryptocurrency since April 2018. Like many in the industry, he framed his enterprise not merely as a financial tool, but a radical societal change, touting the crypto gospel in podcast appearances and videos on YouTube. He was 30-years-old at the time of his death. The firm launched in 2014 amid a spectacular rise in the price of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and was handling $1 billion in trades by 2017. Someone tracked Patryn to a scam forum called TalkGold, where Patryn talked to one user in particular, sceptre, a bunch. Dying from Crohn's disease when only 1.6% of sufferers from this disease die of it and to happen to die from . Following Quadrigas implosion in 2019, it was investigated by the Ontario Securities Commission, which concluded that, "what happened at Quadriga was an old-fashioned fraud wrapped in modern technology. The only catch: only Gerry knew the passwords to the companys crypto-vaults. Still, questions about the missing money only mounted when two. The sudden death of Gerald Cotten in December 2018 plunged the world of cryptocurrency into chaos. Browse Locations. Image Credit: CTV Your Morning/YouTube. Where was the rest of the money? Gerald Cleophas Betzen, 68. The estate includes an airplane, a sailboat, a 2017 Lexus, and real estate in Nova Scotia and Kelowna, British Columbia. Here Is Why People Think Gerald Cotten Is Still Alive. goes to Cottens hospital in India to put the whole fake death thing to bed. CRYPTO scams are popping up all over the internet. The media dragged Gerald Cotten's wife, Jennifer Robertson, into the spotlight after his mysterious death. Customers have since struggled to regain access to their money, citing withdrawl issues and lack of communication from the company. Cotten In 2013 was looking for a programmer to help him create a bitcoin marketplace using the account name Murdoch1337 on a BlackHat Forum and this account was last seen active in August 2019 at this point he should have been "dead" for a long time. Robertson has denied any knowledge of her husband's wrongdoing - and in 2019 returned $9million to the company to repay users. [15] He learned about Bitcoin in Toronto and travelled to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he founded Quadriga in November 2013 with Michael Patryn. ", "Vancouver crypto exchange, CIBC clash over frozen accounts", "Judge rules with CIBC, grants possession of disputed Quadriga funds to Ontario Superior Court", "The fintech 'genius' accused in $165m fraud", "Crypto Firm Cited in Bitfinex Case Had Also Worked With Quadriga", "Quadriga co-founder served time in U.S. for role in identity-theft ring, documents reveal", "Criminal Past Haunts Surviving Founder of Troubled Crypto Exchange", "Crypto firm CEO with $190 million password did die in Jaipur hospital", "Cryptocurrency Exchange Says It Can't Access $190 Million After CEO Unexpectedly Died", "Millions in cryptocurrencies frozen in Canada after only person who had password dies in India", "Crypto Exchange Founder Filed Will 12 Days Before He Died", "Quadriga CEO, whose death ignited a cryptocurrency storm, a kind man with taste for fine things, say friends", "Crypto Exchange Mystery Deepens as Board Seeks Court Protection", "Crypto exchange Quadriga files for creditor protection", "Quadriga mystery deepens with little evidence of cold wallets containing $250M", "A Crypto-Mystery: Is $136 Million Stuck or Missing? ^ "Quadriga CEO's widow speaks out over his death and the missing crypto millions". We just send money from our Bitcoin app directly to those paper wallets, and keep it safe that way. Cotten also took flying lessons as he appeared to be possibly preparing for a life on the run. April 2, 2022 Netflix Nobody was expecting Gerald Cotten, the CEO of Canadian Bitcoin exchange QuadrigaCX, to die at 30. Was a recently-active Skype account proof he was still alive? Supposedly, Cottens business associates didnt even know he was married. Reported by Fansided, Globe and Mail journalist Nathan Vanderklippe spoke to Dr. Sharma, who dealt with Cotten when he came into the hospital. It apparently had no formal accounting system. thinks that Gerald is deadnor did he ever meet his wife. "I couldn't get any sleep. "I could have invested it in real estate. Resides in Beverly Hills, CA. When Canadian blockchain whiz Gerald Cotten died unexpectedly last year, hundreds of millions of dollars in investor funds vanished into the crypto ether. The death, and the resulting collapse of Quadriga, set off a score of government and citizen investigations into how so much digital currency could be spirited away. "Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King". November 28, 2022 by Nurudeen. The OSC tugged on the same thread, but neither could get hold of him. 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. There is a clear lesson here that having a single person owning this information creates a huge vulnerability.. Fifteen years later, Mr Cotten, known as Gerry, would be accused of swindling people online of a much bigger prize. [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. [49], On 5 March 2019, Justice Wood extended Quadriga's court protection to 23 April. Given the intrigue, some went so far as to question whether Mr Cotten had really died and demanded his body be exhumed. [30], According to Jennifer Robertson, Cotten's widow, he died on 9 December 2018 while travelling in India. Both Canadas tax authorities and the FBI are also investigating the company. , one of the co-founders, registered the domain name for QuadrigaCXnot Gerry. Despite repeated and diligent searches, I have not been able to find them written down anywhere, she said in court filings. It sucks.". His death was kept secret for a month by the firm before it was finally announced - and it was found he had spent millions in investors' money funding his own lavish lifestyle. Wood ordered a "30-day stay that precludes filing of claims against Quadriga", which is a temporary legal protection from its creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, a legal status that allows insolvent corporations to restructure their business and financial affairs. "What Quadriga really did with the money that customers gave it to buy Bitcoin remains a mystery," according to Chainalysis. 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. Jilted investors in a defunct cryptocurrency company want to confirm the death of the business's founder by exhuming his remains. He is believed to have carried out Ponzi scheme scams since he was just 15 - such as playing a role in pre-crypto digital token eGold, according to investigator Amy Castor. When Taylor Monahan, founder of MyCrypto, examined the exchanges cold wallets, she couldnt find the lost crypto. Angry and suspicious investors congregated on Reddit and Telegram to try to get to the bottom of the mystery. Gerald Cotten. Gerald Cotten is allegedly meant to have died from Crohn's disease after the exchange crashed. It was alleged that Patryn was involved in a money-laundering ring under a different nameOmar Dhanani. One source in the doco goes as far as to claim Cotton may have used a substance known as "Haitian zombie powder" to fake his death. Cotten neglected to pass on the passwords to the accounts, and in 2019, when investigators tracked down Cotten's digital wallets, all the money was gone. His death certificate was issued by the Indian authorities and contains an incorrect spelling of his name. Soon enough, QuadrigaCXs customers struggled to withdraw money from the exchange. The accounting firm Ernst & Young, tasked with auditing the company as it undergoes bankruptcy proceedings, discovered numerous money-losing trades executed by Cotten, using customers funds. Quadriga's accounts are estimated to have held 190million ($250million). Netflix's latest true crime doc, "Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King", seeks to unravel the mystery of Gerald Cotten, the CEO of crypto exchange QuadrigaCX, who died in 2018. Check out: Personal Finance Insider's picks for best cryptocurrency exchanges. , initially diagnosed Cotten with little more than travelers diahrrea, but kept him in hospital just in case. Then, the crypto millionaire suddenly died in India from complications from Crohn's disease about three years ago. Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Quadriga's customers are owed C$260 million in cryptocurrency and cash. This was my entire savings, built through ten years of work, said one disgruntled customer in the doc. Facebook / Remembering Gerry Cotten In the weeks since Quadriga Fintech Solutions Corp. belatedly made his death public, the exchange's furious users have raised questions. [2], In January 2019 Ernst & Young reported that Quadriga did not have a bank account, but instead used third-party payment processors. Thats when the Globe started to be convinced that he was dead, after all. [19], Some Reddit users have suggested that Cotten faked his own death in order to defraud customers through an exit scam, while others believe that Cotten's death exposed a Ponzi scheme. Thinking that Jennifer had murdered Cotten, the Telegram group spiraled out of control. It's clear to me that Cotten gave himself millions of dollars worth of crypto as the owner to trade people fake crypto and give himself millions of dollars. And not even. Like the end of a classic Ponzi, the OSC said that due to Cottens bad trades, QuadrigaCX couldnt afford to credit customers who withdrew funds. His clients were locked out of about $250 million, and investigators later. So his spiral down into a life of crime was either pure greed or him seeking the thrill. Cotten was the only one with access to necessary permissions. Here's a link to the BlackHat forum. Then, out of the blue, one Mike Patryn joined the Telegram group that investors were using to discuss conspiracies. 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. Directed by Luke Sewell, the original Netflix documentary Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King follows a group of cryptocurrency investors hired to investigate the death of exchange founder Gerry Cotten and the alleged $250 million that he stole from them. , 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. Quadriga CX was left owning its 76,000 investors around $215million (CAD). 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. Thinking that Jennifer had murdered Cotten, the Telegram group spiraled out of control. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, A lost password, a sudden death and $180M in missing crypto, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, 50 cash with friend referrals at Virgin Mobile, 15% off extra plans with this Vodafone promo, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. Customers reported that once they arrived, there was nobody in the office, or that there was no cash to be disbursed. We explain who Gerald Cotten is, the subject of this documentary, and reveal where he is now, including the mystery surrounding his downfall.