QuadrigaCX is Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and the company is currently in a bit of trouble.
QuadrigaCX recently announced that all of its cryptocurrencies stores cannot be accessed. This is because the CEO is alleged to have died on holiday in India without revealing the password for the digital wallet that keeps all the money.
Now angry investors want to make sure that this is not part of an elaborate scam by digging up the dead CEO’s grave.
In January 2019, Gerald Cotten (pictured), the CEO of QuadrigaCX, was on his honeymoon in India when the company reported his death. After the initial rush of condolences, people started to get worried. This is because Cotten was the one who knew the passwords to the exchange’s digital wallets. The problem was that he seemed to be the only one who knew the passwords. The result was that cryptocurrencies valued at $145 million were locked behind digital locks.
CBC News
His widow claimed that her husband’s laptop was encrypted and she did not know the password to access the business. She claimed that she spend a lot of time trying to find the recovery key but was unable to do so.
Months after Cotten’s death, a conspiracy theory emerged. Many investors now believe that the money is gone and Cotten stole it. They believe he faked his death to obscure the trail. The theory has gained traction and now investors want to exhume his body so that they can prove he is really dead.
Miller Thomson LLP, which is the law firm that represents the QuadrigaCX investor, has already sent in a request to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for an autopsy on Cotten’s body. According to Indian authorities, Cotten suddenly died from complications due to Crohn’s disease. However, the suspicious circumstances of his quick death make people doubtful.
Can QuadrigaCX Be Trusted?
It doesn’t help that there were several suspicious moves made by QuadrigaCX in the last couple of years. The main shocker was confirming that Cotten died in December 2018. The report came out only in January 2019. When investors decided to withdraw their funds, the exchange went dark.
Another red flag was when $25 million of the exchange’s assets were frozen back in 2018. This was due to irregularities. These were unfrozen only after Cotten’s death. Additionally, critics point out that it was convenient that Cotten died in India, which makes it more difficult to verify his death. We will have to wait a few more months to confirm whether Cotton really died or is absconding.
