# Cryptocurrency exchange founder dies and takes password to the grave **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 4, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963 "2019-02-04T20:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/82 "2021-01-15T17:35:54Z")
From what I gather, early on there were two distinct (but related) conspiracy theories around this case. The first one was that Cotten was spending or otherwise personally diverting the funds, and it wasn’t just a matter of not being able to get to the money due to a lack of access to his system, but that it wasn’t there, The second was that he faked his death to avoid prosecution. Sometimes conspiracies actually happen. A theory is more likely to be true depending on how few people need to be involved to keep the secret. Cotten had no employees, no partners, he was a one man show. It seems like at most his wife may have been complicit in what he was doing with the funds, but I don’t think even that has been shown or would be necessary. So the theory that there was no money in those wallets was highly plausible, and based on subsequent investigations it seems like it was in fact true. On the other hand, faking his death in the manner alleged is implausible to the extent of being fantasy. It would be one thing if he vanished without a trace, leaving behind a suicide note or something. But in this case he died at a hospital, where a death certificate was issued, and presumably his body was sent back home for burial. Faking something like that requires so many people that it gets into crazy land. It should be safe to assume the man is in fact dead. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/83 "2021-01-15T21:52:39Z")
It’s not a conspiracy theory that the wallets were drained. It’s a publicly-verifiable fact. It’s inherent in the way that bitcoin works that anyone in the world can determine how much is in any given wallet. And all it’d take for the second conspiracy theory would be one bribed medical examiner. What got sent home was ashes. It’s not proven, no, but it’s completely plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/84 "2021-01-15T22:02:59Z")
I don’t think it was a known fact when the thread started that the wallets were empty but it seems to be now. I imagine it takes more than one corrupt ME to convince people you died at a hospital. There would be staff there too to hush up if anyone even poked into it a little. I don’t buy it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/85 "2021-01-16T00:27:07Z")
I don’t think the matter of his death is all that clear cut: [Quadriga Fintech Solutions - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadriga_Fintech_Solutions#CEO's_death) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/86 "2021-01-16T03:56:39Z")
Well whether he’s alive or dead may not be clear cut, but cardiac arrest due to “septic shock, perforation, peritonitis, and intestinal obstruction” is a clear cut cause of death. Maybe especially so if you’re traveling in India. ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/87 "2021-01-16T20:50:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What got sent home was ashes. Was he cremated? This casts doubt - > **[Unable to Retrieve Money, Cryptocurrency Investors Want Dead Executive...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/business/gerald-cotten-death-cryptocurrency.html)** > > Gerald W. Cotten, the C.E.O. of Quadriga CX, was the only one who knew crucial passwords, the company said. When he died, users could not recover millions in their accounts. Now they want proof he is actually dead. If he wasn’t then this has to be a big indicator that he really is dead otherwise he would have arranged for cremation in India. Unless that would have made it too obvious… ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/88 "2021-01-17T07:01:26Z")
I recall discussion in one town about some fellow who had left Canada, gone home to India, and died in a motor vehicle accident, and his relatives collected a decent life insurance claim. Apparently he/somebody allegedly showed up in Canada and when people asked what was going on, claimed to be his identical twin brother. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/89 "2021-01-17T13:17:54Z")
I’m pretty sure that if he’s not dead, that would also lead to him not having been cremated… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/90 "2021-03-07T00:10:50Z")
Here is a very good mini documentary on the case- [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NMDZcbkgpJA/maxresdefault.jpg "The Bizarre Disappearance Of A Canadian CEO - An Unsolved Mystery") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMDZcbkgpJA) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/91 "2021-05-25T23:48:48Z")
In case anyone is still interested, here’s an in-depth article from the CBC on Gerald Cotten and Quadriga. Bottom line? Cotten was definitely crooked, but is not definitely dead. > **[A death in Cryptoland: The story of Gerald Cotten and QuadrigaCX](https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/bitcoin-gerald-cotten-quadriga-cx-death/)** > > When reports emerged in 2019 that the CEO of Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange had died, it left over a quarter of a billion dollars of customers' funds in limbo. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/92 "2021-05-28T13:14:12Z")
Thanks for posting it. Interesting read. ---
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/93 "2021-05-28T17:24:57Z")
There’s also a new podcast called “Exit Scam” about Cotten. I haven’t listened to it, though. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/94 "2021-05-28T20:06:22Z")
I thought the whole idea behind cryptocurrencies was that all transactions were recorded in the block chain. So if Cotten held cryptocurrencies in wallets hot or cold, and no one else had access to those, then the block chain should record no transactions of “his” coins. What’s the point of a scam, if he can’t retrieve the money to use without “admitting” he’s alive or that someone else does have access? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/95 "2021-05-28T20:26:14Z")
Those wallets were all emptied long before his “death”. What he got in exchange for their contents is unknown. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/96 "2021-05-29T19:51:37Z")
I don’t understand. The article says: “She said her husband was the only person who had the passcodes — that is, access to more than a quarter of a billion dollars of his customers’ money.” That would seem to imply the wallets were not empty. Otherwise who’d care about the pass codes? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/97 "2021-05-29T20:35:03Z")
I think it implies that no one “alive” could figure out whether empty or not. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/98 "2021-05-30T16:22:35Z")
Everyone could tell that the wallets were emptied, because that was recorded in the blockchain. Nobody but Cotten had the passwords to have been able to empty them. Therefore, Cotten emptied them. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/99 "2021-06-24T03:56:09Z")
New scam, bigger than the old scam. > **[Founders of South African Bitcoin exchange disappear after $3.6 billion 'hack'...](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/africrypt-bitcoin-disappearance-174636634.html)** > > Cryptocurrency investors in South Africa may have lost nearly $3.6 billion in Bitcoin following the disappearance of two brothers associated with one of the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/100 "2022-01-19T03:41:05Z")
Three years on, and the Widow Cotten speaks. Says she was holding Gerry’s hand when he died; that she had no idea he was running a scam; that the fact that people would bring bags of cash to their house, in packages of 50s and 100s, didn’t tip her off, because Gerry explained that “banks don’t like crypto”; and that when they made their wills, Gerry said that the business would die with him, which she thought was odd. > **[Quadriga CEO's widow speaks out over his death and the missing crypto millions...](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/quadriga-widow-jennifer-roberston-gerald-cotten-1.6318955)** > > Gerald Cotten died suddenly in 2018 and took keys to $250 million in cryptocurrency assets to his grave. After his death, investigators discovered he used the money as his own personal slush fund. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963/101 "2022-01-19T05:56:13Z")
Reminds me of the ad for backup software in a IBM mainframe magazine many years ago… It’s a cartoon showing a funeral scene, everyone is standing around as the casket is lowered into the ground. One fellow is talking to someone who is obviously the widow, dressed all in black… “I know this is a bad time, but did he ever mention anything about backups?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-exchange-founder-dies-and-takes-password-to-the-grave/828963.md?page=6)