Quadriga

About Quadriga

Quadriga CX, Canadas largest cryptocurrency exchange, collapsed in January 2019 after CEO Gerald Cotten died unexpectedly in India. Cotten was the only person with access to 190 million in cryptocurrency stored in cold wallets. His widow Jennifer Robertson claimed she could not access the funds. Conspiracy theories circulated that Cotten had faked his death. Ernst and Young, the bankruptcy trustee, found that most of the cryptocurrency had been traded on rival exchanges and was gone. Only 34 million was recovered. The Ontario Securities Commission found that Cotten had committed fraud, using customer deposits for personal expenses and trading. Approximately 76,000 users lost money. The case highlighted the risks of trusting a single individual with access to cryptocurrency assets.