A C$100,000 trust fund was made to provide lifelong care for Cotten's two chihuahuas in case of Robertson's death. [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. Some have speculated his death was a clever ruse and there have been calls to have his body exhumed to prove it was a "fake". [49], On 5 March 2019, Justice Wood extended Quadriga's court protection to 23 April. 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. Gerald Cotten is a bitcoin millionaire from Canada whose death, supposedly from complications relating to Crohn's disease, is now being questioned. Gerald Cleophas Betzen, 68. 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. I put myself into a deep hole and the only way to dig out of it was to sell my house.. [50], Quadriga's lawyer, the firm Stewart McKelvey, withdrew from the case due to a potential conflict of interest. And, wildly, was Jennifer, his wife, even real? Gerald Cotten was the founder of one of Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Quadriga CX. The Netflix documentary will follow investors-turned-investigators looking into theories on the founder's sudden death. Gerald died while on a honeymoon with his wife Jennifer in India, Cotten has been recast since his death as a thrill-seeking scammer, Michael Patryn - real name Omar Dhanani - had previously been convicted of identity fraud, Bitcoin miner electrocuted to death by his computer after forcing it to churn out endless amounts of crypto. Cotten was the only one with access to necessary permissions. Even after Cotten's death news, some people still believe that he is alive, and one of the main reasons is because of his mysterious death. Indeed, QuadrigaCX launched just three months after sceptre put out a call to build a crypto exchange. [17], Ernst & Young reported on 6 February 2019 that C$468,675 (US$354,300) of bitcoin were "inadvertently" sent to an inaccessible cold wallet. "[18], The company tried to raise money and list on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) working with Patryn. We just send money from our Bitcoin app directly to those paper wallets, and keep it safe that way. He and his wife, Jennifer Robertson, jetted all over the world on private planes, visiting chic locales in Paris, Hawaii, and Morocco. So the Globe goes to Cottens hospital in India to put the whole fake death thing to bed. In their letter to the RCMP the law firm underlined the need for certainty around the question of whether Mr Cotten is in fact deceased. Fifteen years later, Mr Cotten, known as Gerry, would be accused of swindling people online of a much bigger prize. His wife has said she was "upset and disappointed" to learn about the extent of the fraud at her husbands company, writing in a 2019 statement, she wasnt aware or involved in Gerrys trading activities, nor his appropriation of customer funds." Dhanani also had pleaded guilty to burglary and grand theft charges and had been deported to Canada. Lawyers for customers of an insolvent cryptocurrency exchange have asked police to exhume the body of the companys founder, amid efforts to recover about $190m in Bitcoin which were locked in an online black hole after his death. However, in 2018, Bitcoin prices crashed and many began withdrawing their funds from Quadriga, except they were being met with error messages before the exchanges website stopped working in 2019. Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk, Ring removes free perks for millions of users, you'll have pay to get them back, Android users told check for five Google 'danger phrases' don't ignore list, Facebook's hidden list reveals if you're a 'target' for criminals, People are just realizing Apple upgraded the iPhone with 7 life-changing secrets, 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Tong Zou tells his devastating story in new Netflix doc, Gerald 'Gerry' Cotten died in 2018, taking password to access funds with him. The tech-savvy individual traced domain names, links, and trades on the blockchain, discovering a lengthy track-record of schemes, from Mr Cottens early days on TalkGold, to his association with a business partner named Michael Patryn. In that case, $851 million entrusted to Crypto Capital had been "lost, stolen or absconded with", according to the suit. One of the Globe reporters had a hunch that this was Gerry Cotten, and traced the account to another online den of thieves, BlackHatWorld. Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King. His body was embalmed and sent back to Canada for a closed-casket funeral. 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. Mr Cottens story is now the subject of the documentary Dead Mans Switch: A Crypto Mystery, which streams on Discovery+, and in the new memoir of wife Jennifer Robertson, Bitcoin Widow: Love, Betrayal and the Missing Millions. [33], Cotten's will was signed 27 November 2018, twelve days before he allegedly died. His death left investors locked out of their money and left Jennifer Robertson, Gerry's wife . X-rays. Still, all this evidence was circumstantialinvestors hadnt yet found a smoking gun. The dude literally said that comment as a complete joke, and I even . It comes as we revealed some of the world's biggest crypto scams following the case of Bitcoin tradersRaees Cajee, 21 and Ameer, 18,who fledSouth Africa after allegedly pocketing 2.5billion. More than three years after the sudden death of Quadriga CEO Gerald Cotten and the revelations that the company was a massive cryptocurrency scam, his widow, Jennifer Robertson, tells her side of the story.#Quadriga #GeraldCotten #BitcoinWatch The National live on YouTube Sunday-Friday at 9 p.m. ETSubscribe to The National: https://www.youtube.com/user/CBCTheNational?sub_confirmation=1Connect with The National online:Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/thenationalTwitter | https://twitter.com/CBCTheNationalInstagram | https://www.instagram.com/cbcthenationalMore from CBC News | https://www.cbc.ca/newsThe National is CBC's flagship nightly news program, featuring the day's top stories with in-depth and original journalism, with hosts Adrienne Arsenault and Andrew Chang in Toronto, Ian Hanomansing in Vancouver and the CBC's chief political correspondent, Rosemary Barton in Ottawa. But, due to the strict security of crypto, we may never know. It essentially removes the need for a central authority. ET. Some people called for Geralds body to be exhumed. Someone tracked Patryn to a scam forum called TalkGold, where Patryn talked to one user in particular, sceptre, a bunch. 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. Here's my take on Gerald Cotten and his suspicious death. 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. It was alleged that Patryn was involved in a money-laundering ring under a different nameOmar Dhanani. Gerald Cotten is still alive (proof) I remember exactly 2 and a half weeks ago, someone on this subreddit that was jokingly talking about gerald said "Watch Quadriga say that they can't access cold wallets because Gerald died and he was the only one with access to the keys". March 30, 2022. However, it was eventually discovered that Gerald had transferred all of his belongings to his wife before his death. And who dies from Crohns disease at 24 years old? Their online exchange launched after the first month. Using a reputable custodian to hold the private keys outside the company is perhaps the best option to ensure these codes are not lost, Erik Wilgenhof Plante, the former CCO of the exchange BeQuant, told The Independent at the time. ", He added: "We thought we were looking for basically a rich guy who had stolen money, Now either [Cotten is] dead, or if hes alive, hes a gambling addict whos broke.". Was the CEOknown for his luxurious lifestyle, which included jets, supercars and vacationsmurdered by a mob debt collector or a jealous lover? About C$1.2 billion worth of bitcoin was exchanged on Quadriga. Cotten's sudden death in 2018 led to the disappearance of millions of dollars worth of his investors' Bitcoin funds. as well as other partner offers and accept our. Investors tried to pull their money from Quadriga, but sometimes faced month-long delays. [31], Robertson filed an affidavit on behalf of the company which included a "Statement of Death" for Cotten, filed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 12 December 2018. A big chunk of it was given to him by his parents. The tech whiz however didn't even need to do it - being an early believer in crypto, he likely would have got rich without the need to scam people. Thats when the Globe started to be convinced that he was dead, after all. Some have speculated that Gerald Cotten faked his own death and basically got a knock-off death certificate in India or perhaps he was killed by his business partners but even the death itself is incredibly suspicious. [17] In a 2014 interview, founder Gerald Cotten explained that the company stored customer funds on paper wallets in safe deposit boxes: "So we just send money to them, we dont need to go back to the bank every time we want to put money into it. At this point, lots of investors think that Cotten, a man alleged to have a history of scamming, really had faked his own death. Then the Ontario Securities Commission opened an investigation. Cotten had allegedly told his wife he would create a mechanism that would allow her to access all of his crypto-related passwords should he die but. [47], Gerald Cotten's widow has maintained that she knew nothing about her husband's activities and agreed to forfeit $12 million in assets. ", QuadrigaCX founder used aliases, moved assets into personal accounts: report, "Quadriga Crypto Mystery Deepens With 'Cold Wallets' Found Empty", "After founder's sudden death, cryptocurrency exchange can't access $190 million in holdings", "Crypto Mystery: Quadriga's Wallets Are Empty, Putting Fate Of $137 Million in Doubt", "Unable to Retrieve Money, Cryptocurrency Investors Want Dead Executive Exhumed", Crypto exchange Quadriga was a fraud and founder was running Ponzi scheme, OSC report finds, QuadrigaCX: A Review by Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission, Quadriga CEO's widow speaks out over his death and the missing crypto millions, "Quadriga Accidentally Moved More Bitcoin to an Inaccessible Wallet", "Quadriga Founder's Widow Seeks Repayment of Her Costs", "Quadriga Lawyer Withdraws Amid Conflict of Interest Concerns", "Hot Docs Shane Smith: Weve crossed the digital divide", "Exit Scam: A Podcast Series about the Death and Afterlife of Gerald Cotten", "More than $400,000 in QuadrigaCX cryptocurrency disappears into 'cold wallet', "Before Quadriga: How shady ventures in Gerald Cotten's youth led to the creation of his ill-fated cryptocurrency exchange", "Widow of Quadriga crypto founder Gerald Cotten says she had no idea about the $215-million scam", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quadriga_Fintech_Solutions&oldid=1141935834, Financial services companies established in 2013, Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in Canada, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 17:09. There was no way of getting my money back. So his spiral down into a life of crime was either pure greed or him seeking the thrill. He was 30-years-old. Netflixs documentary definitely seems to be in the corner that Cotten did die, despite the mystery surrounding his death. He died just nine days into his honeymoon due to an acute stomach ache. Is Gerald Cotten really dead? And why did the Indian hospital that treated Cotten misspell his name on his death certificate? [34][35], On 14 January 2019,[36] Quadriga announced that their CEO, Gerald Cotten, had died the month prior from Crohn's disease while doing volunteer work at an orphanage in India. The circumstances sparked speculation from some in the crypto community that the CEO faked his death and stole his clients' money. This was more of a gamblers high than a rich guys high as he pursued more and more of other peoples money, the stakes went up. 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. Investigations into the firm revealed that Mr Cotten made numerous fake accounts on Quadriga to influence trades on the platform, at one time being involved personally in 87 per cent of transactions. Netflix announced an upcoming documentary about the Quadriga Bitcoin saga and the death of CEO Gerald Cotten. The public didnt learn about the death for another 36 days, until January 2019. In court filings, it was revealed that Mr Cottens email was listed as Midas Golds contact. Then Gerald Cotten suddenly died, in December of 2018, from complications with Crohn's disease. Widow of Quadriga crypto founder Gerald Cotten says she had no idea about the $215-million scam In an exclusive interview, Jennifer Robertson speaks out publicly about her deceased husband,.
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