Back in December, a crypto CEO named Gerald Cotten allegedly passed away, taking his private keys with him. As the head of QuadrigaCX, Cotten was supposedly holding almost $200 million worth of crypto for those who were using his exchange. For months, cyber experts had been attempting to crack the codes on his laptop and break into the wallets that were supposed to hold all of the funds. The vast majority of this crypto, of course, belonged to other people. In the wake of Cotten’s death, many crypto traders were forced to come to a reckoning about how they trade. QuadrigaCX was shut down, with financial auditors called into to deal with the nasty aftermath. But when experts were finally able to get into the laptop in question and take a look at Cotten’s wallets, they noticed something absolutely stunning; the wallets were already cleaned out.
Now the conspiracy theories have started to abound in the mainstream media. The crypto community, of course, has been generating some of its own ideas for a while now. Put simply, many believe that Gerry Cotten has faked his own death and stolen the crypto for himself. When investigators were able to look at the blockchain, they noticed that the Quadriga wallets in question had been emptied a whopping eight months before Cotten allegedly died. There was also suspicious activity. It turns out that Cotten had created a whopping 14 Quadriga accounts that paid crypto out to accounts that were not associated with Quadriga. In the midst of all this uncertainty, another crypto exchange known as Kraken is offering $100,000 to anyone who can come forward with information regarding the whereabouts of this purloined crypto.
It’s interesting to note that Quadriga did not seem to keep detailed records of its activities. Nor did it report its financials at any point. For those who support the idea of regulation, it’s easy to see why cases like this can be triggering. Here was one individual who was tasked with a monumental responsibility that he did not carry out. According to official reports, Cotten died of Crohn’s disease. With less than three percent of Crohn’s disease sufferers dying of complications, this seems suspicious. The fact that he signed a new will less than two weeks before his alleged death is also suspicious. In the following weeks and months, it seems as if we will learn much more.
