Gerald Cotten, 30, held the virtual keys to a whopping $137 . At this point, lots of investors think that Cotten, a man alleged to have a history of scamming, really had faked his own death. The Secret Life and Strange Death of Quadriga Founder Gerald Cotten [11] Lawyers for the customers of the exchange have asked that Cotten's body be exhumed.[12]. His body was repatriated to . 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. "So far, nothing's been found. Have something to tell us about this article? The shocking story has been recounted in a new Netflix documentary, Trust No One: The Hunt For The Crypto King. It is highly unusual for only a single executive to be the one with access to a company's fund, further muddying the waters around what happened to Cotten. Cbc.ca. Was a recently-active Skype account proof he was still alive? "[40][41], Ernst & Young found five Quadriga cold wallet addresses, but they were empty, containing no cryptocurrency since April 2018. At first, the now-closed company allegedly blamed the delay on a legal issue with a bank. It was one of the only games in town [for crypto enthusiasts], Sheona McDonald, who directed the film, told The New York Post. For instance, had Cottens death certificate, which spelled his name as Cott, , been faked? [17][20], In 2017, Bitcoin experienced a speculative frenzy rising in price from about US$1,000 to almost US$20,000. Their online exchange launched after the first month. But Cotten was a bad trader: losing money hand over fist, he gambled away about $150 million of customer funds. It just wasnt there. Even today, some investors remain unconvinced that Cotten really is dead. Trust No One depicts Cotten as a nerdy, happy-go-lucky, and charming CEO, who was knee-deep in Bitcoin and a fierce advocate of the technology. And, wildly, was Jennifer, his wife, even real? A computer issue wiped $14 million of Ethereum off the exchange. ^ "Quadriga CEO's widow speaks out over his death and the missing crypto millions". Since his death, Cotten has been recast as a habitual scammer who would enjoy the thrill of knowing he was duping his customers and investors. [3][4][5], Quadriga likely never invested the funds entrusted to it, according to Chainalysis, a cryptocurrency tracking firm. The only catch: only Gerry knew the passwords to the companys crypto-vaults. Jilted investors in a defunct cryptocurrency company want to confirm the death of the business's founder by exhuming his remains. Citing decomposition concerns, lawyers requested the exhumation be completed no later than spring 2020. "At that point, we were desperate to recover funds and we were also convinced that a scam was underway," said QCX-INT, an individual who uncovered online documentation of Mr Cottens history of fraudulent behaviour, speaking anonymously to the CBC this year. So, Patryn: shit-stirrer, criminal mastermind or another one beguiled by Cotten? Here's a link to the BlackHat forum. Check out: Personal Finance Insider's picks for best cryptocurrency exchanges. Still, questions about the missing money only mounted when two Globe and Mail reporters followed up on the case. His clients were locked out of about $250 million, and investigators later. Where is Gerald Cotten's Wife Jen Robertson Now? - The Cinemaholic Zou trusted Quadriga CX, Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange, with C$500,000 (305,000). So the. Lawyers representing investors in what BBC. Gerald Cotten, 30, died abruptly in December 2018 of complications relating to Crohn's disease while on honeymoon in Jaipur, India, with his wife, Jennifer Robertson. A new Netflix true-crime documentary is tackling a bizarre story from the world of cryptocurrency. TRUST NO ONE: THE HUNT FOR THE CRYPTO KING, a DONT F*CK WITH CATS-style investigative thriller, is now streaming on Netflix. 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. I'm new to this subreddit, I apologise if anything I have said breaks the rules. "[46] The Official Ontario Securities report on Quadriga is attached here. Gerald Cotten was the founder of one of Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Quadriga CX. [47], Gerald Cotten's widow has maintained that she knew nothing about her husband's activities and agreed to forfeit $12 million in assets. Quadriga CX was left owning its 76,000 investors around $215million (CAD). 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. Quadriga's customers are owed C$260 million in cryptocurrency and cash. A new documentary on his mysterious death called Dead Man's Switch: A Crypto Mystery, airing on Discovery+, looks into accusations the crypto king made off with millions in investors' cash. Ernst & Young was able to recover $24m in cash and $9m in assets held by Robertson. Cotten's sudden death in 2018 led to the disappearance of millions of dollars. Where is Gerald Cotten now from Netflix's Hunt for the Crypto - HITC Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Fake trading: I'm almost certain that he was trading with fake crypto, Chris Markay was one of the accounts that Cotten used to trade his "crypto" he also is known to have other aliases Sceptre Gerry, Aretwo Deetwo and Seethree Peaohh. It certainly started to look like fraud, said one anonymous investor in the doc. Resides in Beverly Hills, CA. His death sparked online debates and string theories on Reddit and. He and his wife, Jennifer Robertson, jetted all over the world on private planes, visiting chic locales in Paris, Hawaii, and Morocco. The streaming service announced the feature alongside a slate of upcoming true-crime projects last week. It essentially removes the need for a central authority. [33], Cotten's will was signed 27 November 2018, twelve days before he allegedly died. Gerald Cotten was the talk of the cryptocurrency world in Canada after he introduced QuadrigaCX, a place where investors could buy and sell cryptocurrency. Quadriga Fintech Solutions - Wikipedia [21], Throughout 2018, as Bitcoin prices crashed, customers of the exchange reported delays when attempting to withdraw dollars. The sudden death of Gerald Cotten in December 2018 plunged the world of cryptocurrency into chaos. [49], On 5 March 2019, Justice Wood extended Quadriga's court protection to 23 April. The business was run from Cotten's encrypted laptop from Cotten's home in Fall River, Nova Scotia. Cotten and Patryn's past: He's also been linked to many other "Cryptocurrency markets" in the past with his old partner Patryn who has changed his name twice because he was charged with laundering money. Retrieved 18 January 2022. "[18], The company tried to raise money and list on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) working with Patryn. (Neither men were charged in connection with Liberty Reserve). In that case, $851 million entrusted to Crypto Capital had been "lost, stolen or absconded with", according to the suit. Indeed, QuadrigaCX launched just three months after sceptre put out a call to build a crypto exchange. CRYPTO scams are popping up all over the internet. [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 teen, a bright computer enthusiast from Belleville, Ontario, ran the operation on an online forum called TalkGold, and promised his investors inconceivable returns of up to 150 per cent in two days. But even the forensic accountants only managed to trace $46 million of the total $215 million customers had deposited onto the exchange. The new documentary "Dead Man's Switch" looks at the mystery of Gerald Cotten, the QuadrigaCX CEO who unexpectedly died and some $250 in investors' money seemingly disappeared with him. No longer a likable nerd, investors thought that Gerald, now sceptre, had been operating scams since he was 15. Its the swindler story you havent heard of until now. Cotten's widow has rarely spoken publicly, but in an affidavit has described herself as being subject to "slanderous comments" over accusations her husband faked his death. [19] Other than a few contractors, it had no employees, offices or bank accounts thereafter. The thing about conspiracy theories, though, is that they mutate out of control very quickly, and arent always reflective of the latest evidence. Cotten encrypted and stored about $190 million worth of his customers' Bitcoin caches and held sole responsibility for the passwords needed to access those funds. Neither Costodian or Quadriga could access the funds. So his spiral down into a life of crime was either pure greed or him seeking the thrill. Netflix's 'Trust No One': Who Was QuadrigaCX CEO Gerald Cotten? Exit Scam host Aaron Lammer told CoinDesk: "My read was that, on some level, Gerry was addicted to scamming, "Addicted to stealing peoples money. Gerald Cotten's body should be exhumed, investors in QuadrigaCX tell [4] Blockchain analysts have reported that they are unable to find evidence of Quadriga's cold wallets on the blockchain, a public ledger used for cryptocurrencies. Gerald Cotten is allegedly meant to have died from Crohn's disease after the exchange crashed. Mom 'stabs 3 of her kids to death and wounds 2 others in unsupervised visit', Daughter of murdered couple linked to Delphi case reveals paranoia, Serena Williams stepmom's debts continue to spiral amid crumbling home battle, Alex Murdaugh looks unrecognizable in new mugshot hours after sentencing, 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP. In her memoir, Ms Robertson denies shes part of an elaborate plot to fake her husbands death, adding that speculation has led to death threats from stalkers demanding she returns the missing millions. He convinced tons of investors to fork over their money so he could invest it into Crypto. Criminal probes continue by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the FBI as leading digital investing publication Coindesk branded his death as the "crypto's biggest mystery". Cotten was the only one with access to necessary permissions. 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". What Happened to Jennifer Robertson and Where Is Gerald Cotten's Wife Now? https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/hiring-a-programmer-website-like-bitstamp-bitcoin-trading-project.605236/. At the time, he was the CEO of QuadrigaCX, a company that performed cryptocurrency exchanges. Where Is Gerald Cotten Now? - Vimbuzz.com After beginning as an entrepreneur, Cotten founded Quadriga Fintech Solutions in 2013 and the company evolved to become the largest crypto exchange in the country, and it even helped to legitimize Bitcoin. Gerald Cotten was 15 when he ran his first documented get-rich-quick scheme. [51], A documentary titled Dead Man's Switch: A Crypto Mystery about the story of Gerald Cotten premiered at the 2021 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. Since his death, Cotten has been recast as a habitual scammer who would enjoy the thrill of knowing he was duping his customers and investors. "I couldn't get any sleep. Its pretty much money by people for people.. Gerald Gerry Cotten is the founder of Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga Fintech Solutions and is at the helm of a groundbreaking investment scam that the Netflix documentary investigates. 'Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King' will be released sometime in 2022. Jilted investors of Cotton's crypto firm QuadrigaCX have demanded his corpse be exhumed and tests run to confirm its his body. The laptop computer from which Gerry carried out the companies business is encrypted and I do not know the password or recovery key. Companies have backups, safeguards to protect against this kind of thing. So what exactly happened to Cotten, and is he still alive somewhere sitting on a mountain of stolen crypto? started to be convinced that he was dead, after all. Then in January, 2019, Cottens wife Jennifer Robertson announced that he had died a month earlier. Forensic accountants discovered that Gerry was trading against fake users, crediting their account with fake currencies and pocketing the cash, using the proceeds to play the crypto market. You get rid of a lot of the regulations, he said on a podcast in 2014. We pay for your stories! Gerald Cotten is allegedly meant to have died from Crohns disease after the exchange crashed. But the money, of course, was still missing. There were other problems around that time. It left Robertson the entire C$9.6-million estate and named her as the trustee. 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. Is Gerald Cotten Still Alive? Did He Really Die? - The Cinemaholic [17][29] Bloomberg also identified Patryn as Dhanani, showing that he had officially changed his name from Omar Dhanani to Omar Patryn in British Columbia in March 2003 and changed it again to Michael Patryn in October 2008. Robertson has denied any knowledge of her husband's wrongdoing - and in 2019 returned $9million to the company to repay users. But when co-founder Cotten died during a honeymoon in India, the money was seemingly lost forever. Cops believe that Quadriga CX was actually an wide-ranging Ponzi scheme - and Cotten would use fake accounts under the name "Chris Markay" to "buy" his customers Bitcoin using fake cash. He graduated from York with a bachelor of business administration in 2010. California (2) Massachusetts (1) Texas (2) Refine Your Search Results. Some evidence suggested that Jennifer, if real, was acting strangely. His death left investors locked out of their money and left Jennifer Robertson, Gerry's wife . 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. Jennifer, scared for her safety, entered a safe house. [42] Another three empty wallets were believed to possibly be owned by Quadriga. Gerald Cotten (born 11 May 1988)[14] lived in Belleville, Ontario before attending the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. The company raised C$850,000 but cancelled plans to list on the exchange in early 2016. 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. [52], The CBC released a 6-episode podcast about Quadriga and the death of its founder called A Death in Cryptoland. [1], The company's CEO and founder, Gerald William Cotten, allegedly died in 2018 after traveling to India. Directed by Luke Sewell, the original Netflix documentary Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King follows a group of cryptocurrency investors hired to investigate the death of exchange founder Gerry Cotten and the alleged $250 million that he stole from them. 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. According to an investigation by Canada's Globe and Mail, Cotten. And for some, things still looked suspicious. Subsequent investigations found that Michael Patryn, one of the co-founders, registered the domain name for QuadrigaCXnot Gerry. [42], Quadriga continued to accept deposits until 26 January. [28], Quadriga used an unusual teller-window system for customers to withdraw their money. The media dragged Gerald Cotten's wife, Jennifer Robertson, into the spotlight after his mysterious death. Living a jet set life, he cruised the world on yachts, flew in private jets and investigators even released photos of piles of cash on his kitchen table. [9][10], The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were reportedly investigating the company. There was no autopsy on the body, for instance, and Cotten had signed his will two weeks after he diedleaving his riches to Jennifer. CIBC stated that they could not determine the ownership of the money and could not contact Cotten or Quadriga. Despite no concrete evidenceindeed, the murdered mans. #GeraldCottenReallyDead #GeraldCottenStillAliveGerald Cotten Really Dead ? His death was kept secret for a month by the firm before it was finally announced - and it was found he had spent millions in investors' money funding his own lavish lifestyle. Cotten also took flying lessons as he appeared to be possibly preparing for a life on the run. Image Source: Social Media. 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,. Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness (Holt). 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." [17], In 2016, Cotten became the sole director of Quadriga when all the other directors resigned. Gerald Cotten. So far, only about $46 million has been recovered. I took out three loans from the bank and put it all into crypto. His will was signed off just two weeks before he and wife Jennifer Robertson travelled to India on their honeymoon. "I kept asking them: Where's my money? After his death in December, his colleagues said that about $137 million in cryptocurrency belonging to about 115,000 customers was held offline in "cold storage" and inaccessible. Investors tried to pull their money from Quadriga, but sometimes faced month-long delays. Was he avoiding something or someone? [17] Michael Gastauer, Chief Executive of WB21, has been named in a civil lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a US$165 million fraud. Gerald Cotten Still Alive ? goes to Cottens hospital in India to put the whole fake death thing to bed. (His wife says he is in fact dead and witnessed his funeral). The public didnt learn about the death for another 36 days, until January 2019. Gerald and Jennifer kept most of their relationship away from the public. Re-thinking indemnification for smart contract risks", "Bitcoin investors face long delays cashing out, criticize two B.C. Front Burner- Inside Canada's Crypto Mystery, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King, "Investigation of Quadriga cryptocurrency debacle turns up only $28 million in assets", "Nothing sinister about bitcoin company CEO's sudden death, friend says", "Troubled Bitcoin trader QuadrigaCX takes another bizarre turn", "Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga seeks creditor protection", "Bitcoin Accounts for 95% of Cryptocurrency Crime, Says Analyst", "Crypto-Exchange Says It Can't Pay Investors Because Its C.E.O. Netflix has tried to get to the bottom of things in its new 90-minute doc; read on to uncover the wild tale of Gerald Cotten. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops delivered daily to your inbox. The circumstances are dodgy that they chose to honeymoon to India and he suddenly dies from complications of Crohn's disease. He graduated from York in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. , and found an affidavit from Robertson saying that she didnt understand how QuadrigaCX operatedeven though one of Robertsons companies later wired cash to some of Quadrigas customers. 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. The podcast was hosted by Takara Small. Indian authorities maintain that Cotten, whose body was repatriated to Nova Scotia for a small closed-casket funeral, died on Dec. 9, 2018, shortly after checking into a luxury hotel in Jaipur. They reported that Jennifer said she couldnt get into Cottens laptops, and found an affidavit from Robertson saying that she didnt understand how QuadrigaCX operatedeven though one of Robertsons companies later wired cash to some of Quadrigas customers. He was able to keep the venture, called S&S Investments, going for three months, before it folded and investors money was gone. Another "appears to have been used to receive Bitcoin from another cryptocurrency exchange account and subsequently transfer Bitcoin to the Quadriga hot wallet" on 3 December. "What Quadriga really did with the money that customers gave it to buy Bitcoin remains a mystery," according to Chainalysis. Mystery of rogue Bitcoin trader who 'died' taking with him password to Before Quadriga: How shady ventures in Gerald Cotten's youth led to the Netflix announced an upcoming documentary about the Quadriga Bitcoin saga and the death of CEO Gerald Cotten. Cottens death will likely remain a mystery, with some believing that he is still residing somewhere in the world with the stolen money. 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. He launched QuadrigaCX in 2013, and it quickly became one of the largest crypto exchanges. Gerald Cleophas Betzen, 68. There was no way of getting my money back. Despite repeated and diligent searches, I have not been able to find them written down anywhere, she said in court filings. His wife Jennifer Robertson said he had promised to create a mechanism that turned thepasswords over to her when he died. About C$1.2 billion worth of bitcoin was exchanged on Quadriga. Some speculate that Cotten, who suffered with Crohn's disease, might actually be alive. Someone tracked Patryn to a scam forum called TalkGold, where Patryn talked to one user in particular, sceptre, a bunch. Supposedly, Cottens business associates didnt even know he was married. He is believed to have carried out Ponzi scheme scams since he was just 15 - such as playing a role in pre-crypto digital token eGold, according to investigator Amy Castor. After some more digging, the reporter found an order form filled out by one Gerald Cotten. https://bit.ly/3cAIH4j Newest Vid's https://bit.ly/3JkFmEqFollow Us On Facebook https://bit.ly/3oh5cS8Gerald Cotten or Gerry Cotten's life and tragic passing are shrouded in mystery. The OSC tugged on the same thread, but neither could get hold of him. In November 2018 the case was decided with the accounts going to the court to decide the ownership individually. Here Is Why People Think Gerald Cotten Is Still Alive: The Death The doctor stated that while dying from Crohns disease is very rare, Cotten appeared to show signs of illness and suffered from three heart attacks in the same day the paramedics were unable to resuscitate him after his third cardiac arrest. Supposedly, Cottens business associates didnt even know he was married. Wood ordered a "30-day stay that precludes filing of claims against Quadriga", which is a temporary legal protection from its creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, a legal status that allows insolvent corporations to restructure their business and financial affairs. 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. Gerald Cotten, who was born on May 11th, 1988, was raised in Belleville, Ontario, before relocating to Toronto to enroll at York University's Schulich School of Business. No one but him can access accounts, he ran a whole market on a laptop by himself with no other employees or partners anymore so only he could access it and he suddenly dies when he would be in massive debt for delayed payments and would likely be convicted for fraud or money laundering. Cotten neglected to pass on the passwords to the accounts, and in 2019, when investigators tracked down Cotten's digital wallets, all the money was gone. A Canadian bank froze another $21 million of funds. His death certificate spells his name wrong, he was supposedly buried in a closed casket in Canada even though there is no evidence his body was ever moved from India and why would it need to be a closed casket? He was 30-years-old. Given the mysterious circumstances of his deathand the enormous amount of money he controlledits no surprise that conspiracies quickly sprang up in an attempt to piece together the puzzles around his death. Zou resorted to the cryptocurrency scheme to avoid bank charges when moving Vancouver, shifting his money from the US to a Canadian account. Is Gerald Cotten really dead? : r/QuadrigaCX - reddit A lost password, a sudden death and $180M in missing crypto Miller Thomson LLP sent a letter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Friday, requesting authorities conduct an exhumation and postmortem autopsy on the body of Gerald Cotten, founder of QuadrigaCX, citing what the firm called the questionable circumstances around his death earlier this year. ", 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.". It apparently had no formal accounting system. 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". The death, and the resulting collapse of Quadriga, set off a score of government and citizen investigations into how so much digital currency could be spirited away. 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. What really happened to Gerald Cotten, Netflix's Crypto King? Though some dont believe Mr Cotten is really gone, the money from Quadriga is. Mr Cotten, 30 at the time of his death, seemed to be living the dream life of a financial titan. Up to C$250 million (US$190 million) in cryptocurrency owed to 115,000 customers was missing[2] or could not be accessed because only Cotten held the password to off-line cold wallets. [33] Aaron Matthews served as Director of Operations. [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. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Official investigations into the matter have yet to produce any definitive answers. Cotten's sudden death in 2018 led to the disappearance of millions of dollars worth of his investors' Bitcoin funds. There's also other posts on his Murdoch1337 account that are weird he asks for people to sell him old reddit accounts presumably because he would use these alt accounts to downvote people trying to slander his company or he would make posts on these alts saying how great Quadriga is. I'm 99% sure he is still alive living nicely. Shortly after, the exchange stopped working entirely. [50], Quadriga's lawyer, the firm Stewart McKelvey, withdrew from the case due to a potential conflict of interest. At this point, lots of investors think that Cotten, a man alleged to have a history of scamming, really had faked his own death. [24][25][26], According to court filings, Quadriga also used WB21 as a payment processor. After some more digging, the reporter found an order form filled out by one Gerald Cotten.
Kimt Contest Page, Shreveport Mavericks Salary, Articles G