{"id":7129,"date":"2019-02-05T04:16:15","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T04:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/quadriga-cryptocurrency-exchange-founders-death-locks-140m\/"},"modified":"2019-02-05T04:16:15","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T04:16:15","slug":"quadriga-cryptocurrency-exchange-founders-death-locks-140m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/quadriga-cryptocurrency-exchange-founders-death-locks-140m\/","title":{"rendered":"Quadriga: Cryptocurrency exchange founder’s death locks $140m"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Cryptocurrency is digital, or virtual only, currency
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Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange is unable to access millions in digital currency following the sudden death of its founder.<\/p>\n

Quadriga has filed for creditor protection and estimates that about C$180m ($137m; \u00a3105m) in cryptocurrency coins is missing. <\/p>\n

It has not been able to locate or secure its cryptocurrency reserves since Gerald Cotten died in December. <\/p>\n

Cotten, 30, had sole responsibility for handling the funds and coins. <\/p>\n

In court documents filed with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court on 31 January, his widow Jennifer Robertson, says the laptop on which Cotten “carried out the companies’ business is encrypted and I do not know the password or recovery key”. <\/p>\n

“Despite repeated and diligent searches, I have not been able to find them written down anywhere,” the affidavit states. <\/p>\n

The company hired an investigator to see if any information could be retrieved but ongoing efforts have had only “limited success in recovering a few coins” and some information from Cotten’s computer and phone. <\/p>\n

The company is also investigating whether some of the cryptocurrency could be secured on other exchanges, according to court files. <\/p>\n

They say about 115,000 Quadriga users hold balances in their personal accounts in the form of cash obligations and cryptocurrency. <\/p>\n

The company estimates it owes about C$250m ($190m; \u00a3145m) – including C$70m in hard currency.<\/p>\n

The affidavit says the majority of the cryptocurrency was kept by Quadriga in a “cold wallet” or “cold storage”, which is located offline and used to secure cryptocurrency from hacking or theft. <\/p>\n

Liquidity problems for the British Columbia-based company began in January 2018 when Canadian bank CIBC froze C$25.7m linked to its payment processor after the bank had difficulty determining who were the owners of the money. <\/p>\n

Those problems have been compounded by Cotten’s passing. <\/p>\n

The founder died unexpectedly due to complications with Crohn’s disease while travelling in India, according to court documents. <\/p>\n