Cryptocurrency exchange still in disarray after founder’s death

Bitcoin exchange QuadrigaCX made headlines in February when the founder’s mysterious death overseas left all funds completely inaccessible.

Now, investigations by the agency overseeing the exchange’s bankruptcy have revealed that the funds only Gerald Cotten could access may have been mismanaged while he was alive.

Nearly 200 million dollars were effectively lost after Cotten’s death, as only he held the password needed to access the encrypted laptop on which he ran his entire business.

Investigations launched after the exchange went silent revealed that supposed storage accounts had been emptied before Cotten passed away, leading to a digital manhunt for where the currency was transferred.

The firm Ernst and Young now managed to trace transfers from Quadriga ‘wallets’ to other, competing exchanges. Additionally, false accounts created by Cotten under aliases were used to inflate Quadriga’s revenue figures and transfer customers’ funds to Cotten himself.

One offshore account received deposits of more than twenty thousand Bitcoin, which was then liquidated for a value of sixty million dollars.