QuadrigaCX: Investors Call to Exhume Deceased CEO’s Body
According to a report by ET Tech published on December 16, 2019, lawyers representing the customers of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange platform QuadrigaCX have requested that the exchange’s deceased CEO, Gerald Cotten’s body be exhumed.
QuadrigaCX Story Continues
Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX made rounds to newsrooms earlier this year when it came to light that the exchange’s CEO Cotten had reportedly died in India at 30, leaving digital assets worth millions of dollars forever locked in a cold storage wallet.
The dramatic story surrounding QuadrigaCX has had no dearth of twists and turns with the exchange’s customers being at the receiving end of it all. Now, in the latest development, lawyers of the exchange’s customers have demanded the exhumation of Cotten’s body.
Per sources close to the matter, Miller Thomson LLP has written a letter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police asking that they conduct an exhumation and post-mortem autopsy on the body of Gerald Cotten to confirm both its identity and the cause of death given the questionable circumstances.” The report reads in part:
“The law firm also provided background material of “publicly available information” on the history of Quadriga, Cotten and others tied to the firm that “further highlight the need for certainty around the question of whether Mr. Cotten is in fact deceased.”
One of the reasons why the QuadrigaCX fiasco hasn’t ever seemed to reach a point of closure is also the fact that it involves a large sum of money (approximately $163 million) which has been, presumably, forever lost by the exchange’s customers. Per sources close to the matter, the untimely and surprising demise of Cotten left some 76,000 users out of pocket in cash and digital currencies.
Internet Rife with Conspiracy Theories
Since Cotten’s reported demise, the internet has been rife with speculations and conspiracy theories about the CEO’s death.
As reported by BTCManager on April 11, 2019, news came to light stating that the QuadrigaCX issue might have had deep links with money-laundering and other illicit activities.
The exchange’s untimely demise has had an extensive impact on cryptocurrency investors in North America, including the U.S. BTCManager reported on June 5, 2019, how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had urged QuadrigaCX victims to aid the ongoing investigation regarding more details about Cotten’s death.
On a more recent note, BTCManager reported on September 11, 2019, how a judge of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court had agreed to move the QuadrigaCX case from Halifax to Toronto.