Gerald Cotten, founder of Quadriga CX exchange, is presumed to have died of Crohn’s disease on 30 November 2018 while on his honeymoon in India.
The death of Gerald Cotten, which was kept secret by the company for a month, left a question mark in everyone’s mind.
It has been announced that the only person who knows Cotten’s account passwords is his wife, Jennifer Roberston. Things got even more complicated when it was revealed that Cotten’s partner, Michael Patryn, had previously served time in prison.
It turned out that Patryn, known to have changed her name twice before, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for being a member of an identity theft gang in the USA. As such, it is believed that Cotten’s death was fake and millions were kidnapped.
According to the news of the Daily Mail; Cotten’s death 4 days ago, he had written a will stating that he left 9 million dollars of real estate, plane and all his property to his wife.
After this event, the Exchange Commission of the Canadian province of Ontario in the report published in June 2020, 115,000 users approximately 215 million announced a loss of dollars.
Filmmaker Sheona McDonald, who was skeptical of the incident, said:Dead Man’s Switch: A Crypto Mystery” He made a documentary.
A scene from the documentary
“For crypto enthusiasts in the city,” McDonald told the New York Post. everything was just a game.” said.
In the documentary: Gerald Cotten’s “It was too good to be true. He had blond hair, a boyish exuberance, and a cheerful disposition that made people want to be around him.” mentioned as.
Users of Cotten’s QuadrigaCX cryptocurrency exchange; suddenly lost their wealth, which they had earmarked for everything from tuition fees to pension funds, life savings, and mortgages. Some investors die their own demise. imitated He suspects it might.
In the early 2000s he six years older and with a mysterious past Cotten’s meeting with Patryn, born and raised in Ontario, from York University in Toronto bachelor’s degree in business economics It is known that he graduated with
Gerald Cotten, the first ponzi scheme implemented at the age of 15. Called S&S Investments, this company is just Promised up to 150% returns within 48 hours. This scam company, which closed with the loss of investors’ money, It remained active for 3 months.
Gerald’s partner, Patryn, After his imprisonment in 2007 He objected to reports on his criminal history. From the company Quadriga CX, founded in 2013, to Bloomberg leaving in 2016 and since then “It does not take part in any implementation or management of Quadriga company.” told.
When Quadriga exchange entered the crypto market, Bitcoin was selling for less than $300. in 2017, the value of bitcoin while the stock market is active 13,000 up to $, but investors claimed that they had difficulty withdrawing their money. Quadriga, the largest crypto exchange in Canada with more than $1 billion in transactions in 2017, instead of allowing the use of digital wallets, he usually kept the crypto for them on a computer. But that would become a problem later. Speaking about this situation, McDonald said “If you don’t have a crypto wallet, you don’t have your crypto” said.
Launched as the easiest way to buy cryptocurrencies, Quadriga did not have any other exchange in Canada when it first came out.
All of this happened during the rise of the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin dropped to $3700 in December 2018 and people suffered greatly. At that time, Quadriga was sued for the alleged disappearance of $14 million in Ethereum. In response, the company announced that they had problems with the computer.
Stating that people who could not withdraw their money from their accounts panicked after the market experienced a pullback, Gerard said: “Cotten was smiling and telling people not to worry, he was promising them they would get paid, but Quadriga was running out of money.” said.
“Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum & Smart Contracts” “Canada is famous for having a lot of good and reliable people and a lot of scammers making a living off of them,” David Gerard, author of the book, told The Post.
He talked about Gerald Cotten in his book:
“He used to spend money like water. He and his wife Jennifer have traveled the world. He did everything from his laptop while traveling the world. He mixed client funds and company funds, took clients’ money.” said.
Shortly after Cotten’s death, Quadriga applied for creditor protection and suspended payments.
According to the documentary, Cotten has long suffered from Crohn’s disease but hasn’t revealed anything about it. On December 8, nine days after he left for India, he woke up with severe stomach pain and went straight to the hospital. Doctors at the hospital initially thought of the disease as traveler’s diarrhea. It was determined that Cotten, whose blood test results were obtained later, developed septic shock. He suffered three heart attacks in 24 hours and was said to have died on the last one.
on January 14, 2019, after Cotten’s death more than a month later, to Quadriga users death has been reported. Users who want to withdraw money from their company only They published a letter declaring that they were in shock and mourning. 31 in January quadriga, Users’ frustration turned to anger when they applied for creditor protection to suspend payments.
Not only did he make a documentary about cryptocurrency, but also via Quadriga. modest McDonald, who invested in a wayAs soon as I saw this notification, I knew my money was gone.” said.
Among those most affected is Tong Zou, who works in technology and invests through the Quadriga exchange, in the documentary:
About all the savings in my life $400,000 I lost. from the bank I took a loan three times and I invested it all in crypto. I put myself on a road that I can’t get out of My only option is to sell my house.
said.
Cotten’s death three years later, most of the money lost yet not found; Most of the finds were transferred to funds by Canadian banks. Some believe that users and customers’ money is lost in gambling or converted into different currencies.
Some users even demanded that the body be exhumed, believing that Cotten was not really dead. There were people who thought he was even using “Haitian zombie dust,” a substance that could be used for fake death.
According to the documentary, Cotten was in the anatomy department of a medical school. mummified, autopsy not performed and body sent to Canada. five days after his death He was buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Cotten’s story is not just for himself, but for thousands of creditors who trust him with millions of dollars. it was tragedy.