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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCrypto-exchange cannot pay out customers' accounts bc owner died without leaving password.
https://gizmodo.com/crypto-exchange-says-it-cant-repay-190-million-to-clie-1832309454Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX says it cannot repay most of $190 million in client holdings after its 30-year-old founder Gerald Cotten, the only person who knew the passwords to its cold storage, unexpectedly died in India in December 2018, Coindesk reported on Friday.
In a sworn affidavit with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, widow Jennifer Robertson said that QuadrigaCX owes its customers some $190 million in both cryptocurrency and fiat money. QuadrigaCX has filed for creditor protection because it says it cannot access the funds stored in cold storage, just the comparatively smaller amount in a hot wallet used for transfers, CoinDesk wrote:
...
Robertson also said that Cotten held sole responsibility for handling the funds and coins and no other members of the team could access the stored funds. QuadrigaCX announced Cottens death in mid-January, saying he had died due to complications with Crohns disease on December 9, 2018 while travelling in India, where he was opening an orphanage to provide a home and safe refuge for children in need.
While Robertson has Cottens laptop in her possession, CoinDesk wrote, she says she does not know the password, and a technical expert recruited by the firm has been unable to bypass its encryption. She also says Cotten left behind no business records.
Some other reporting has suggested it is possible some of the funds in question moved after the case was publicized, and though the evidence was not definitive, it and the strange circumstances of Cottens death spurred accusations that his demise was either faked or the pretext for an exit scam by other parties with access to the holdings, according to CCN. However, Robertson included a death certificate in the filings, CoinDesk wrote.
In a sworn affidavit with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, widow Jennifer Robertson said that QuadrigaCX owes its customers some $190 million in both cryptocurrency and fiat money. QuadrigaCX has filed for creditor protection because it says it cannot access the funds stored in cold storage, just the comparatively smaller amount in a hot wallet used for transfers, CoinDesk wrote:
...
Robertson also said that Cotten held sole responsibility for handling the funds and coins and no other members of the team could access the stored funds. QuadrigaCX announced Cottens death in mid-January, saying he had died due to complications with Crohns disease on December 9, 2018 while travelling in India, where he was opening an orphanage to provide a home and safe refuge for children in need.
While Robertson has Cottens laptop in her possession, CoinDesk wrote, she says she does not know the password, and a technical expert recruited by the firm has been unable to bypass its encryption. She also says Cotten left behind no business records.
Some other reporting has suggested it is possible some of the funds in question moved after the case was publicized, and though the evidence was not definitive, it and the strange circumstances of Cottens death spurred accusations that his demise was either faked or the pretext for an exit scam by other parties with access to the holdings, according to CCN. However, Robertson included a death certificate in the filings, CoinDesk wrote.
Imagine that all bank-accounts at a bank get frozen indefinitely because the one guy responsible for all of the accounts died and nobody else knows the password.
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Crypto-exchange cannot pay out customers' accounts bc owner died without leaving password. (Original Post)
DetlefK
Feb 2019
OP
"Dunning-Krugerrands" is still the best name for cryptocurrency I've heard (n/t)
Spider Jerusalem
Feb 2019
#2
Cheating rich people out of money gets you in jail-Madoff. Work like that in Canada?
irisblue
Feb 2019
#3
defacto7
(13,485 posts)1. Forget the certificate, where's the body?
Generic Brad
(14,275 posts)4. $190 million can buy a person a new identity
And I would imaging there would probably still be another $189.9 million left to spare.
This story sounds very fishy.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)2. "Dunning-Krugerrands" is still the best name for cryptocurrency I've heard (n/t)
irisblue
(33,023 posts)3. Cheating rich people out of money gets you in jail-Madoff. Work like that in Canada?
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)5. Would you put money into crypto, knowing there's no guarantee
you will ever be able to take it out of there?
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)7. Never
this was a scam from the start.
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)8. That's also my opinion.
(I did due dilligence).
Anon-C
(3,430 posts)6. Fair chance this is all fraud and he's alive.