{"id":74587,"date":"2019-02-19T03:04:54","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T01:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.times.mw\/?p=74587"},"modified":"2019-02-19T03:04:54","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T01:04:54","slug":"the-cryptocurrency-firm-that-lost-135m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/2019\/02\/19\/the-cryptocurrency-firm-that-lost-135m\/","title":{"rendered":"The cryptocurrency firm that lost $135m"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
COTTON\u2014Quadriga CX founder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the 30-year-old founder of a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange died suddenly, he took the whereabouts of some C$180m ($135 million) in cryptocurrency to his grave. Now, tens of thousands of Quadriga CX users are wondering if they will ever see their funds again.<\/p>\n

In 2014, one of the world\u2019s biggest online cryptocurrency exchanges\u2014MtGox\u2014unexpectedly shut down after losing 850,000 Bitcoins valued at the time at nearly $0.4 billion.<\/p>\n

Its meltdown shook investors in the volatile emerging marketplace\u2014 but the calamity at the Tokyo-based company proved a boon for a new Canadian online cryptocurrency exchange.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople like the fact we\u2019re located in Canada and know where their money is going,\u201d<\/em> Quadriga CX founder, Gerald Cotten, said at the time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some five years later, Cotten\u2019s sudden, untimely death has left thousands of his customers scrambling for information about their own missing funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know whether or not we\u2019re going to get our money back,\u201d<\/em> Tong Zou, who says he is owed C$560,000\u2014his life savings \u2014told the BBC.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This month, Quadriga\u2014which had grown to become Canada\u2019s largest cryptocurrency exchange\u2014 was granted temporary bankruptcy protection in a Canadian court.<\/p>\n

The firm said it had spent the weeks since Cotten\u2019s death trying desperately to \u201clocate and secure our very significant cryptocurrency reserves\u201d.<\/p>\n

In court documents, Quadriga says it owes up to 115,000 users an estimated C$250 million – about C$70 million in hard currency and between C$180 million an C$190 million in cryptocurrency, based on recent market rates.<\/p>\n

It believes\u2014though it\u2019s not certain\u2014that the bulk of those millions in reserves was locked away by Cotten in cold storage, which is an offline safeguard against hacking and theft.<\/p>\n

For now, all trading has been suspended on the platform.<\/p>\n

Bernie Doyle, CEO of Refine Labs and head of the Toronto chapter of the Government Block chain Association, calls what\u2019s happening at Quadriga a \u201cseismic event\u201d in the industry.<\/p>\n

The world of digital currency has little regulatory oversight and a history of volatile prices, hacking threats, and minimal consumer protection.<\/p>\n

Doyle says this only adds to the nascent sector\u2019s already \u201ccheckered history\u201d.<\/p>\n

But he says \u201cit\u2019s really unfortunate that the ecosystem takes a hit\u201d amid one firm\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n

The company says it also has millions in bank drafts it has been unable to deposit because banks have been unwilling to accept them.<\/p>\n

Robertson\u2019s affidavit to the court included photos showing stacks of bank drafts placed on a kitchen stove.<\/p>\n

Those banking disputes contributed to a \u201csevere liquidity crunch\u201d at the company, with frustrated users facing delays and difficulties trying to access funds.<\/p>\n

Who was Gerald Cotten? <\/strong><\/p>\n

In photos and interviews, Cotten comes across as a clean-cut business school graduate who tended to favour the casual shirts and jeans uniform of a tech entrepreneur.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Quadriga called him a \u201cvisionary leader\u201d who was in India for the opening an orphanage for children in need when he died.<\/p>\n

His friend, Alex Salkeld, described Cotten as a helpful, easy-going young man keen to contribute to the community of cryptocurrency enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019ll find anyone willing to say anything bad about him,\u201d<\/em> he told the BBC.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Salkeld said once a week Vancouver Bitcoin Co-Op members would all head over to the Quadriga\u2019s then-offices \u201cand just talk Bitcoin\u201d.<\/p>\n

Like others at the time, he said Cotten saw Bitcoin as a technology with the potential to change the world – a virtual currency free of governments and the banking system.<\/p>\n

Salkeld said that since Cotten died, those who knew him have been going back-and-forth over how he could possibly have failed to have a contingency plan in place.<\/p>\n

But amid rampant talk online about possible fraud related to the missing coins, Salkeld said that, to him, \u201cit\u2019s looking like a tragic series of unfortunate events strung together in a really unlucky way\u201d.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Cotten\u2019s last will and testament also gives some hints as to his life and assets.<\/p>\n

The document, signed shortly before his ill-fated trip to India, shows he appointed Robertson as executor of the estate and left her the bulk of his property.<\/p>\n

It offers some detail into those assets: a Lexus, an airplane – he was an amateur pilot\u2014a sailboat, and real estate in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and British Columbia.<\/p>\n

He even planned for the care of his two chihuahuas, Nitro and Gully.<\/p>\n

The case against Quadriga <\/strong><\/p>\n

There are many who are suspicious of Quadriga\u2019s story and who doubt claims that Cotten had the only key to reserves valued in the tens of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

Online sleuths and industry experts have analysed the public transaction history of Quadriga wallets\u2014which are used to store, send, and receive cryptocurrency\u2014 and have raised the possibility that the cold storage reserves might not exist at all.<\/p>\n

That has led to concern there is more at play than poor business practices and internal company chaos in the wake of Cotten\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Others have wondered whether Cotten faked his own death and that this is all part of an \u201cexit scam\u201d to abscond with the funds.<\/p>\n

Amid those rumours, Robertson\u2019s affidavit included a copy of statement of death from a funeral home in Halifax, Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n

The hospital in Jaipur where Cotten was treated also released a statement detailing the medical interventions he received prior to his death.<\/p>\n

His widow says she has received death threats and \u201cslanderous comments\u201d online since Quadriga publicly announced its troubles.<\/p>\n

An independent third party monitor has also been appointed to oversee the court proceedings, and is currently in possession of Cotten\u2019s laptop and other devices.<\/p>\n

What happens next? <\/strong><\/p>\n

In an online message to its users, Quadriga said it filed for creditor protection to give it time to ensure the future viability of the company.<\/p>\n

It also admitted it is in \u201cthe early stages of a long process and [does] not have all the answers right now\u201d.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to court filings, Quadriga is also investigating whether some of the cryptocurrency could be secured on other exchanges and it said it\u2019s considering selling the platform to cover its debts.<\/p>\n

A number of affected users, including Tong Zou, have retained lawyers and are seeking representation in the proceedings.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Canada\u2019s main securities regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission, has confirmed it looking into Quadriga \u201cgiven the potential harm to Ontario investors\u201d.<\/em>\u2014BBC<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the 30-year-old founder of a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange died suddenly, he took the whereabouts of some C$180m ($135 million) in cryptocurrency to his grave. Now, tens of thousands of Quadriga CX users are wondering if they will ever see their funds again. In 2014, one of the world\u2019s biggest online cryptocurrency exchanges\u2014MtGox\u2014unexpectedly shut down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":74592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74587"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74593,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74587\/revisions\/74593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}