QuadrigaCX

QuadrigaCX was Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange, claiming to hold $190 million in customer assets when its founder, Gerald Cotten, reportedly died on December 9, 2018, during a honeymoon trip to India. Cotten was allegedly the only person with access to the exchange's cold wallet private keys, meaning $190 million in customer cryptocurrency was permanently inaccessible. The story quickly unraveled. Investigations by Ernst & Young (the court-appointed monitor) revealed that most of the cold wallets had been empty for months before Cotten's death. Forensic analysis showed that Cotten had been running a Ponzi-like scheme, using new customer deposits to fund withdrawals and his own lavish lifestyle — purchasing luxury real estate, a yacht, and a private plane. He also created fake accounts on his own exchange to trade with customer funds, generating artificial volume while siphoning assets. The Ontario Securities Commission concluded that QuadrigaCX was 'a fraud from the start.' The exchange owed 76,319 customers approximately $215 million, of which only $46 million was recovered. Cotten's death itself remains controversial — he died in Jaipur, India, reportedly of complications from Crohn's disease, but conspiracy theories persist that he faked his death to escape with the funds. In 2023, Netflix released 'Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King,' a documentary exploring the mystery. The case led to significant regulatory reform in Canada's crypto industry.