Resides in Beverly Hills, CA. Either the funds were never received or quickly went missing. Soon after his death, however, reports surfaced that nearly 80,000 users of QuadrigaCX at the time Canadas largest cryptocurrency exchange were unable to access funds totalling more $190m. A computer issue wiped $14 million of Ethereum off the exchange. [38][39], According to some of Cotten's family members, there was a crypto "Dead man's switch" that would provide Quadriga with operating information in the event of his death; however, "neither the monitor nor others involved with the organization are aware of a dead-man switch email having been received. Lammer believes the evidence does suggest that Cotten died suddenly - having battled Crohn's disease for a number of years, even though the timing was suspicious. 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. One of the. firms", "What happens when your bitcoin banker dies? , 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. Further complicating the matter the company's co-founder Michael Patryn was revealed to actually be a man named Omar Dhanani, who had previously been convicted in the US of identity fraud. Gerald Cotten. Netflix's 'Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King' explores the story of Gerald Cotten, founder and CEO of Canadian crypto exchange business QuadrigaCX, whose passed away unexpectedly in 2018. Gerald Cotten was 15 when he ran his first documented get-rich-quick scheme. Was a recently-active Skype account proof he was still alive? pic.twitter.com/rGymJ5f9Or. Cottens death will likely remain a mystery, with some believing that he is still residing somewhere in the world with the stolen money. The podcast was hosted by Takara Small. Soon enough, QuadrigaCXs customers struggled to withdraw money from the exchange. 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? A NEW documentary on rogue crypto trader Gerald Cotton, who took up to $215million in Bitcoin and other digital currencies to his grave, has sparked rumours he may have faked his death. [28], Quadriga used an unusual teller-window system for customers to withdraw their money. ET. Quadriga Fintech Solutions was the owner and operator of QuadrigaCX, which was believed to be Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange.In 2019 the exchange ceased operations and the company filed for bankruptcy with C$215.7 million in liabilities and about C$28 million in assets.. "I could have invested it in real estate. (His wife says he is in fact dead and witnessed his funeral). Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. 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. (Neither men were charged in connection with Liberty Reserve). X-rays. Cotten was young, energetic, passionate about cryptocurrency so when. 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. 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. Some also believe that Gerald isnt even dead at all but rather hiding away with the hundreds of millions of dollars he controlled. thinks that Gerald is deadnor did he ever meet his wife. Sign up for notifications from Insider! It was a perfect match, sparked up on Tinder, she said in the documentary. [27] Another payment processor used by Quadriga, Crypto Capital, was named in a civil suit filed by the New York Attorney General in April 2019. 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. 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. Retrieved 18 January 2022. Some speculate that Cotten, who suffered with Crohn's disease, might actually be alive. Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness (Holt). His will was signed off just two weeks before he and wife Jennifer Robertson travelled to India on their honeymoon. reporters had a hunch that this was Gerry Cotten, and traced the account to another online den of thieves, BlackHatWorld. did gerry and his wife fake his passing and steal the money? In 2019 the exchange ceased operations and the company filed for bankruptcy with C$215.7 million in liabilities and about C$28 million in assets. Gerald died while on a honeymoon with his wife Jennifer in India, Cotten has been recast since his death as a thrill-seeking scammer, Michael Patryn - real name Omar Dhanani - had previously been convicted of identity fraud, Bitcoin miner electrocuted to death by his computer after forcing it to churn out endless amounts of crypto. Here's my take on Gerald Cotten and his suspicious death. The company's CEO and founder, Gerald William Cotten, allegedly died in 2018 after traveling to India. The couple were on their honeymoon in India, where Jennifer had dreams of opening an orphanage. Given the intrigue, some went so far as to question whether Mr Cotten had really died and demanded his body be exhumed. Jennifer Robertson, the widow of QuadrigaCX founder Gerald (Gerry) Cotten, will be allowed to keep more than $90,000 cash and a Jeep Cherokee in a settlement agreement with the company's bankruptcy trustee. And not even he thinks that Gerald is deadnor did he ever meet his wife. His body was embalmed and sent back to Canada for a closed-casket funeral. [7][8] On 8 April 2019 the firm entered bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act as the possibility of a successful reorganization appeared to be remote. Fifteen years later, Mr Cotten, known as Gerry, would be accused of swindling people online of a much bigger prize. Re-thinking indemnification for smart contract risks", "Bitcoin investors face long delays cashing out, criticize two B.C. 'Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King' will be released sometime in 2022. The shocking story has been recounted in a new Netflix documentary, Trust No One: The Hunt For The Crypto King. Lived In Los Angeles CA, Austin TX, Van Nuys CA . Many believe that Cotten faked his death, however, as part of an exit scam to get away with stealing millions from Quadrigas customers. The OSC tugged on the same thread, but neither could get hold of him. Still, questions about the missing money only mounted when two Globe and Mail reporters followed up on the case. He was one of the wealthiest people in the crypto world, and his company was at its pinnacle. Many believe that Cotten faked his death, however, as part of an exit scam to get away with. Supposedly, Cottens business associates didnt even know he was married. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Now Cottens jet-set lifestyle looked suspicious. Angry and suspicious investors congregated on Reddit and Telegram to try to get to the bottom of the mystery. On the 9th, he allegedly died after episodes of cardiac arrest. Gerald Cotten (born 11 May 1988)[14] lived in Belleville, Ontario before attending the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. Despite no concrete evidenceindeed, the murdered mans first name was not the same as Robertsons ex-husband, some angry investors lobbed death threats at Jennifer, convinced that she had murdered Cotten, too. Cotten passed away from complications that arose from Crohn's disease while on a honeymoon in Indiaapparently taking some $215 million of customer funds to the grave. Robertsons sister, for the record, doesnt think that Cotten had fabricated his relationship with Jennifer. , initially diagnosed Cotten with little more than travelers diahrrea, but kept him in hospital just in case. [49], On 5 March 2019, Justice Wood extended Quadriga's court protection to 23 April. [42] Another three empty wallets were believed to possibly be owned by Quadriga. Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? The OSC found that after 2016, QuadrigaCX stopped producing consistent data about its holdings, and that large volumes of cryptocurrencies were being sent to foreign crypto exchanges. [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. But the money, of course, was still missing. I believe this is the reason why Quadriga could be formed because they made a fortune from Scamming before Quadriga. After some more digging, the reporter found an order form filled out by one Gerald Cotten. CIBC stated that they could not determine the ownership of the money and could not contact Cotten or Quadriga. 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. 4 people named Gerald Betzen found in California, Texas and Massachusetts. 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. [21], Throughout 2018, as Bitcoin prices crashed, customers of the exchange reported delays when attempting to withdraw dollars. His wife Jennifer Robertson said he had promised to create a mechanism that turned thepasswords over to her when he died. Quadriga started by doing only local trades. "It just makes me more depressed about it," Zou told Sky News. Image Credit: CTV Your Morning/YouTube. **Warning Spoilers ahead for Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King**. 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. It essentially removes the need for a central authority. Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King is now streaming on Netflix. - Watch Full Details ! When Canadian blockchain whiz Gerald Cotten died unexpectedly last year, hundreds of millions of dollars in investor funds vanished into the crypto ether. Gerald died while on a honeymoon with his wife Je A new Netflix true-crime documentary is tackling a bizarre story from the world of cryptocurrency. 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. The user said that he left the company in 2016, and that the company was legitimate at the time. Mr Cottens story is now the subject of the documentary Dead Mans Switch: A Crypto Mystery, which streams on Discovery+, and in the new memoir of wife Jennifer Robertson, Bitcoin Widow: Love, Betrayal and the Missing Millions. 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. His death certificate was issued by the Indian authorities and contains an incorrect spelling of his name. I'm new to this subreddit, I apologise if anything I have said breaks the rules. The business was run from Cotten's encrypted laptop from Cotten's home in Fall River, Nova Scotia. Something was afoot. 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. Exit Scam host Aaron Lammer told CoinDesk: "My read was that, on some level, Gerry was addicted to scamming, "Addicted to stealing peoples money. It apparently had no formal accounting system. The two first met in November 2014 and had been together for some time before tying the knot in October 2018. The young entrepreneur seemed to be at the height of his success, traveling around the world with his wife, Jennifer, and leading a jet-setting lifestyle. Zou trusted Quadriga CX, Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange, with C$500,000 (305,000). G erald Cotten was 15 when he ran his first documented get-rich-quick scheme. You get rid of a lot of the regulations, he said on a podcast in 2014. "[40][41], Ernst & Young found five Quadriga cold wallet addresses, but they were empty, containing no cryptocurrency since April 2018. He died just nine days into his honeymoon due to an acute stomach ache. The Netflix documentary will follow investors-turned-investigators looking into theories on the founder's sudden death. All that money vanished into the crypto ether and only once investigations occured did people start to think that it may have been a scam all along. Gerald Cotten, 30, died abruptly in December 2018 of complications relating to Crohns disease while on honeymoon in Jaipur, India, with his wife, Jennifer Robertson. 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. The media dragged Gerald Cotten's wife, Jennifer Robertson, into the spotlight after his mysterious death. The estate includes an airplane, a sailboat, a 2017 Lexus, and real estate in Nova Scotia and Kelowna, British Columbia. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Investors are still hunting for millions in vanished cryptocurrencies, writes Josh Marcus, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Gerald Cotten is allegedly meant to have died from Crohn's disease after the exchange crashed. [33], Cotten's will was signed 27 November 2018, twelve days before he allegedly died. 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. [17], In 2016, Cotten became the sole director of Quadriga when all the other directors resigned. Browse Locations. [7][8], Quadriga co-founder Michael Patryn was identified by The Globe and Mail as Omar Dhanani, who was convicted on identity theft charges in the U.S. and served 18 months in Federal prison. In December of 2018, the jet-setting crypto couple headed to India for their honeymoon, where Mr Cotten died of complications from Crohns disease, 12 days after modifying his will. 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. "Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King". He was 30-years-old at the time of his death. He and his wife, Jennifer Robertson, jetted all over the world on private planes, visiting chic locales in Paris, Hawaii, and Morocco. 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 OSC. She had accompanied him to a hospital in Jaipur the previous day and he was diagnosed with septic shock, perforation, peritonitis, and intestinal obstruction. I'm 99% sure he is still alive living nicely. When Quadriga CEO Gerald Cotten died suddenly in 2018, the passcodes for his cryptocurrency exchange died with him. The thing about conspiracy theories, though, is that they mutate out of control very quickly, and arent always reflective of the latest evidence. Cotten passed away from complications that arose from Crohns disease while on a honeymoon in Indiaapparently taking some $215 million of customer funds to the grave. The Globe and Mail reporters were on the case, and used photos to conclude that they were the same person. He launched QuadrigaCX in 2013, and it quickly became one of the largest crypto exchanges. Even today, some investors remain unconvinced that Cotten really is dead. ", "Vancouver crypto exchange, CIBC clash over frozen accounts", "Judge rules with CIBC, grants possession of disputed Quadriga funds to Ontario Superior Court", "The fintech 'genius' accused in $165m fraud", "Crypto Firm Cited in Bitfinex Case Had Also Worked With Quadriga", "Quadriga co-founder served time in U.S. for role in identity-theft ring, documents reveal", "Criminal Past Haunts Surviving Founder of Troubled Crypto Exchange", "Crypto firm CEO with $190 million password did die in Jaipur hospital", "Cryptocurrency Exchange Says It Can't Access $190 Million After CEO Unexpectedly Died", "Millions in cryptocurrencies frozen in Canada after only person who had password dies in India", "Crypto Exchange Founder Filed Will 12 Days Before He Died", "Quadriga CEO, whose death ignited a cryptocurrency storm, a kind man with taste for fine things, say friends", "Crypto Exchange Mystery Deepens as Board Seeks Court Protection", "Crypto exchange Quadriga files for creditor protection", "Quadriga mystery deepens with little evidence of cold wallets containing $250M", "A Crypto-Mystery: Is $136 Million Stuck or Missing? The teen, a bright computer enthusiast from Belleville, Ontario, ran the operation on an online forum called TalkGold . Cbc.ca. Official investigations into the matter have yet to produce any definitive answers. One source in the doco goes as far as to claim Cotton may have used a substance known as "Haitian zombie powder" to fake his death. Check out: Personal Finance Insider's picks for best cryptocurrency exchanges. Investors tried to pull their money from Quadriga, but sometimes faced month-long delays. Customers have since struggled to regain access to their money, citing withdrawl issues and lack of communication from the company. 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. "So far, nothing's been found. He is believed to have scooped around around $115million in crypto from his own accounts and put them into high risk financial bets - many of which crashed, costing him more money than Quadriga ever actually made. The investors found more questions than answers. The crypto entrepreneur bought increasingly lavish purchases: a $600,000 yacht, a high-end Lexus, 17 homes in Canada, a plane. The firm launched in 2014 amid a spectacular rise in the price of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and was handling $1 billion in trades by 2017. Cryptocurrency investors locked out of $190m after exchange founder dies, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. A NEW documentary on rogue crypto trader Gerald Cotton, who took up to $215million in Bitcoin and other digital currencies to his grave, has sparked rumours he may have faked his death. Then, out of the blue, one Mike Patryn joined the Telegram group that investors were using to discuss conspiracies. at the time Canadas largest cryptocurrency exchange, Gerald Cotten, 30, died in questionable circumstances, Canadian company founder took crucial password to the grave. In court filings, it was revealed that Mr Cottens email was listed as Midas Golds contact. Then Gerald Cotten suddenly died, in December of 2018, from complications with Crohn's disease. Netflixs documentary definitely seems to be in the corner that Cotten did die, despite the mystery surrounding his death. - October, November, December - during all that time," he said. While Robertson has possession of the laptop containing the necessary passwords, she remains locked out. There were other problems around that time. Gerald Cotten was the founder of one of Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Quadriga CX. Companies have backups, safeguards to protect against this kind of thing. [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 dude literally said that comment as a complete joke, and I even . [33] Aaron Matthews served as Director of Operations. He would then use this crypto to make investments himself on other digital exchanges as he furnished his own pockets at the expense of his investors, according to accounting firm Ernst & Young. Gerald Cotten is a bitcoin millionaire from Canada whose death, supposedly from complications relating to Crohn's disease, is now being questioned. You transferred them $1,000 and you could see the crypto in your account. We explain who Gerald Cotten is, the subject of this documentary, and reveal where he is now, including the mystery surrounding his downfall. Mar. Lawyers representing investors in what BBC. Cotten also took flying lessons as he appeared to be possibly preparing for a life on the run. Netflixs latest true crime documentary, Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King, has arrived on the streaming platforms extensive catalog of intriguing documentaries. Either this is a 1 in 100 million coincidence or he is still alive. Zou trusted Quadriga CX, Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange, with C$500,000 (305,000). "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. Conspiracy theorists insist that Cotten faked his own death, however, as many irregularities surrounding his death began to circulate, including a copy of his misspelled death certificate and the fact that his funeral had a closed casket. 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". Some people called for Geralds body to be exhumed. "I kept asking them: Where's my money? That same month, Quadriga filed for creditor protection, and scores of angry investors began furiously questioning where their money went, even though only Mr Cotten knew the keys to the companys crypto vault and never set up a dead mans trigger to send them elsewhere in case he was incapacitated. The podcast was reported by Aaron Lammer and Lane Brown.[55]. Finally, the OSC discovered something that cracked the case wide open. [24][25][26], According to court filings, Quadriga also used WB21 as a payment processor. His body was repatriated to . started to be convinced that he was dead, after all. A C$100,000 trust fund was made to provide lifelong care for Cotten's two chihuahuas in case of Robertson's death. Was Patryn, whom employees described as a macho, terrifying character, calling the shots, not Cotten? Customers reported that once they arrived, there was nobody in the office, or that there was no cash to be disbursed. [7] Meanwhile, in order to manage the finances of the company during the process, a third-party monitor, Ernst & Young, was appointed. Stay up to date with what you want to know. But when co-founder Cotten died during a honeymoon in India, the money was seemingly lost forever. as well as other partner offers and accept our. Mr Patryn pled guilty in 2005 to working in an identity fraud ring, and did business under a company called Midas Gold as an intermediary with Liberty Reserve, a Costa Rican digital currency firm busted as one of the largest money laundering operations in history. [30], According to Jennifer Robertson, Cotten's widow, he died on 9 December 2018 while travelling in India. And for some, things still looked suspicious. Robertson has denied any knowledge of her husband's wrongdoing - and in 2019 returned $9million to the company to repay users. Fourteen trading accounts that were also examined were used to trade on other exchanges. Where was the rest of the money? April 2, 2022 Netflix Nobody was expecting Gerald Cotten, the CEO of Canadian Bitcoin exchange QuadrigaCX, to die at 30. No longer a likable nerd, investors thought that Gerald, now sceptre, had been operating scams since he was 15. Business picked up when Bitcoin hit the big time in 2017, reaching prices close to $20,000. He graduated from York in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. And meanwhile, Dead Man's Switch director Sheona McDonald said: "There's only two people who really know what happened in India.". He first encountered Bitcoin in Vancouver, British . Facebook / Remembering Gerry Cotten In the weeks since Quadriga Fintech Solutions Corp. belatedly made his death public, the exchange's furious users have raised questions. Then you get rid of the fees. There is a clear lesson here that having a single person owning this information creates a huge vulnerability.. [1], The company's CEO and founder, Gerald William Cotten, allegedly died in 2018 after traveling to India. Dying from Crohn's disease when only 1.6% of sufferers from this disease die of it and to happen to die from . A 33-YEAR-OLD man lost his life savings after getting involved with a cryptocurrency trader who died, taking the password to access funds to the grave. [53], A Netflix documentary titled Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King about the story of Gerald Cotten was released in March 2022. And who dies from Crohns disease at 24 years old? Cotten In 2013 was looking for a programmer to help him create a bitcoin marketplace using the account name Murdoch1337 on a BlackHat Forum and this account was last seen active in August 2019 at this point he should have been "dead" for a long time. Then, as their accounts accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars, Gerald passed unexpectedly, taking the passwords to the accounts to his grave. [52], The CBC released a 6-episode podcast about Quadriga and the death of its founder called A Death in Cryptoland. Was he avoiding something or someone? But when the banks, the law, and the. 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. Did he Die? [11] Lawyers for the customers of the exchange have asked that Cotten's body be exhumed.[12]. This was my entire savings, built through ten years of work, said one disgruntled customer in the doc. "At that time, there was nothing I could do. The funeral, according to a Redditor claiming to be a contractor for QuadrigaCX, said that it was a closed-casket affair, and that Jennifer was fake grieving and dancing at the funeral to bacchanalian excess, and even kicked out Geralds family. The streaming service announced the feature alongside a slate of upcoming true-crime projects last week. His death sparked online debates and string theories on Reddit and. 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. And why did the Indian hospital that treated Cotten misspell his name on his death certificate? He graduated from York with a bachelor of business administration in 2010. 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."
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