TRUST NO ONE: THE HUNT FOR THE CRYPTO KING, a DONT F*CK WITH CATS-style investigative thriller, is now streaming on Netflix. Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness (Holt). He appointed Peter Wedlake of Grant Thornton to be chief restructuring officer. But, due to the strict security of crypto, we may never know. Using a reputable custodian to hold the private keys outside the company is perhaps the best option to ensure these codes are not lost, Erik Wilgenhof Plante, the former CCO of the exchange BeQuant, told The Independent at the time. 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? There was no autopsy on the body, for instance, and Cotten had signed his will two weeks after he diedleaving his riches to Jennifer. His body was repatriated to Canada and a funeral was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Browse Locations. She has also said she has no idea what the passwords are to access sequestered customer funds, and that it wasnt written down anywhere. Investors want QuadrigaCX founder Gerald Cotten's remains exhumed Some evidence suggested that Jennifer, if real, was acting strangely. Investors tried to pull their money from Quadriga, but sometimes faced month-long delays. [11] Lawyers for the customers of the exchange have asked that Cotten's body be exhumed.[12]. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops delivered daily to your inbox. Then Cotten took a turn for the worse: he went into cardiac arrest three times; the third time, the doctors couldnt revive him and declared him dead. Wood ordered a "30-day stay that precludes filing of claims against Quadriga", which is a temporary legal protection from its creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, a legal status that allows insolvent corporations to restructure their business and financial affairs. She says she never received the passwords. Gerald Cotten. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, A lost password, a sudden death and $180M in missing crypto, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, 50 cash with friend referrals at Virgin Mobile, 15% off extra plans with this Vodafone promo, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. Reported by Fansided, Globe and Mail journalist Nathan Vanderklippe spoke to Dr. Sharma, who dealt with Cotten when he came into the hospital. Quadriga's accounts are estimated to have held 190million ($250million). The new documentary "Dead Man's Switch" looks at the mystery of Gerald Cotten, the QuadrigaCX CEO who unexpectedly died and some $250 in investors' money seemingly disappeared with him. CIBC stated that they could not determine the ownership of the money and could not contact Cotten or Quadriga. Was a recently-active Skype account proof he was still alive? And meanwhile, Dead Man's Switch director Sheona McDonald said: "There's only two people who really know what happened in India.". He is believed to have carried out Ponzi scheme scams since he was just 15 - such as playing a role in pre-crypto digital token eGold, according to investigator Amy Castor. He appointed his wife as the executor of his estate, handing over a $9million real estate empire, his yacht and his Cessna plane - and he even left his two dogs an inheritance of $100,000. A big chunk of it was given to him by his parents. We explain who Gerald Cotten is, the subject of this documentary, and reveal where he is now, including the mystery surrounding his downfall. Netflixs documentary definitely seems to be in the corner that Cotten did die, despite the mystery surrounding his death. Like many in the industry, he framed his enterprise not merely as a financial tool, but a radical societal change, touting the crypto gospel in podcast appearances and videos on YouTube. Cotten had allegedly told his wife he would create a mechanism that would allow her to access all of his crypto-related passwords should he die but. Quadriga's customers are owed C$260 million in cryptocurrency and cash. While Robertson has possession of the laptop containing the necessary passwords, she remains locked out. The dude literally said that comment as a complete joke, and I even . The mystery of Cotten and Quadriga is now the subject of podcasts Exit Scam and A Death In Cryptoland. His wife Jennifer Robertson said he had promised to create a mechanism that turned thepasswords over to her when he died. https://bit.ly/3cAIH4j Newest Vid's https:. Quadriga had four employees in 2015 with offices in Vancouver and Toronto, but ran out of money by June 2015. I believe this is the reason why Quadriga could be formed because they made a fortune from Scamming before Quadriga. G erald Cotten was 15 when he ran his first documented get-rich-quick scheme. Check out: Personal Finance Insider's picks for best cryptocurrency exchanges. In her memoir, Ms Robertson denies shes part of an elaborate plot to fake her husbands death, adding that speculation has led to death threats from stalkers demanding she returns the missing millions. I personally believe that Cotten is not dead but I would like to hear from people who know more than me about this topic and what they think about the situation. gerald cotten belize - Fullpackcanva.com So what exactly happened to Cotten, and is he still alive somewhere sitting on a mountain of stolen crypto? He was able to keep the venture, called S&S Investments, going for three months, before it folded and investors money was gone. Gerald Cotten: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com Where Is Gerald Cotten Now? - Vimbuzz.com Gerald Cotten is a bitcoin millionaire from Canada whose death, supposedly from complications relating to Crohn's disease, is now being questioned. [15] He learned about Bitcoin in Toronto and travelled to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he founded Quadriga in November 2013 with Michael Patryn. [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. How did Gerald Cotten die? A Quadriga mystery, from India to Canada and It was alleged that Patryn was involved in a money-laundering ring under a different nameOmar Dhanani. [48], On 5 February 2019, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Michael J. 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. [22][23] C$28 million held by Costodian, a Quadriga payment processor, was frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) in January 2018. Re-thinking indemnification for smart contract risks", "Bitcoin investors face long delays cashing out, criticize two B.C. Gerald Cotten is allegedly meant to have died from Crohn's disease after the exchange crashed. It was a perfect match, sparked up on Tinder, she said in the documentary. But even the forensic accountants only managed to trace $46 million of the total $215 million customers had deposited onto the exchange. Since his death, Cotten has been recast as a habitual scammer who would enjoy the thrill of knowing he was duping his customers and investors. Uncertainty about the missing funds has fueled speculation that Cotten may still be alive. A computer issue wiped $14 million of Ethereum off the exchange. Tong Zou is one of thousands of customers left seriously out of pocket following Gerald 'Gerry' Cotten's mysterious death in 2018 at the age of 30. The tech-savvy individual traced domain names, links, and trades on the blockchain, discovering a lengthy track-record of schemes, from Mr Cottens early days on TalkGold, to his association with a business partner named Michael Patryn. Gerald Cotten is allegedly meant to have died from Crohns disease after the exchange crashed. Gerald 'Gerry' Cotten died in 2018, taking password to access funds with him Credit: Netflix. You transferred them $1,000 and you could see the crypto in your account. Gerald Cotten is still alive (proof) : r/QuadrigaCX - Reddit "It just makes me more depressed about it," Zou told Sky News. You get rid of a lot of the regulations, he said on a podcast in 2014. They reported that Jennifer said she couldnt get into Cottens laptops, 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. Indeed, QuadrigaCX launched just three months after sceptre put out a call to build a crypto exchange. 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. "[40][41], Ernst & Young found five Quadriga cold wallet addresses, but they were empty, containing no cryptocurrency since April 2018. It was one of the only games in town [for crypto enthusiasts], Sheona McDonald, who directed the film, told The New York Post. Robertson has denied any knowledge of her husband's wrongdoing - and in 2019 returned $9million to the company to repay users. , initially diagnosed Cotten with little more than travelers diahrrea, but kept him in hospital just in case. An official investigation concluded that Quadriga was"an old-fashioned fraud wrapped in modern technology". And for some, things still looked suspicious. Cotten's widow has rarely spoken publicly, but in an affidavit has described herself as being subject to "slanderous comments" over accusations her husband faked his death. In their letter to the RCMP the law firm underlined the need for certainty around the question of whether Mr Cotten is in fact deceased. Someone tracked Patryn to a scam forum called TalkGold, where Patryn talked to one user in particular, sceptre, a bunch. Cotten encrypted and stored about $190 million worth of his customers' Bitcoin caches and held sole responsibility for the passwords needed to access those funds. Still, all this evidence was circumstantialinvestors hadnt yet found a smoking gun. Zou resorted to the cryptocurrency scheme to avoid bank charges when moving Vancouver, shifting his money from the US to a Canadian account. [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. Where is Gerald Cotten's Wife Jen Robertson Now? - The Cinemaholic It has led the pack of other streaming giants, producing the most projects in the true-crime genre as of 2020. Cryptocurrency investors locked out of $190m after exchange founder dies, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. His body was repatriated to . However, it was eventually discovered that Gerald had transferred all of his belongings to his wife before his death. Jennifer RobertsonGerry Cotten,. Netflix announced an upcoming documentary about the Quadriga Bitcoin saga and the death of CEO Gerald Cotten. reporters had a hunch that this was Gerry Cotten, and traced the account to another online den of thieves, BlackHatWorld. A bitcoin mining operation in Saint Hyacinthe, Quebec. "Once I deposited it, it was basically gone.". firms", "What happens when your bitcoin banker dies? The company raised C$850,000 but cancelled plans to list on the exchange in early 2016. Either this is a 1 in 100 million coincidence or he is still alive. 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. It certainly started to look like fraud, said one anonymous investor in the doc. There's also other posts on his Murdoch1337 account that are weird he asks for people to sell him old reddit accounts presumably because he would use these alt accounts to downvote people trying to slander his company or he would make posts on these alts saying how great Quadriga is. Then Cotten took a turn for the worse: he went into cardiac arrest three times; the third time, the doctors couldnt revive him and declared him dead. [16] In 2014 only C$7.4 million worth of bitcoin were exchanged on Quadriga. Gerald 'Gerry' Cotten | FAKE Behind 'Hunt For The Crypto King' Netflix | Where Are They Now?Subscribe Here! Jilted investors in a defunct cryptocurrency company want to confirm the death of the business's founder by exhuming his remains. "So far, nothing's been found. And, wildly, was Jennifer, his wife, even real? [30], According to Jennifer Robertson, Cotten's widow, he died on 9 December 2018 while travelling in India. Even today, some investors remain unconvinced that Cotten really is dead. The 33-year-old has attempted to get his money back in a lawsuit, but hasn't had any luck as yet. [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. https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/hiring-a-programmer-website-like-bitstamp-bitcoin-trading-project.605236/. Many believe that Cotten faked his death, however, as part of an exit scam to get away with stealing millions from Quadrigas customers. did gerry and his wife fake his passing and steal the money? What really happened to Gerald Cotten, Netflix's Crypto King? seeks to unravel the mystery of Gerald Cotten, the CEO of crypto exchange QuadrigaCX, who died in 2018. Cotten told a Globe and Mail reporter that the banks, which didnt trust crypto exchanges, had frozen the exchanges bank accounts. The Secret Life and Strange Death of Quadriga Founder Gerald Cotten More than three years after the sudden death of Quadriga CEO Gerald Cotten and the revelations that the company was a massive cryptocurrency scam, his widow, Jennifer Robertson, tells her side of the story.#Quadriga #GeraldCotten #BitcoinWatch The National live on YouTube Sunday-Friday at 9 p.m. ETSubscribe to The National: https://www.youtube.com/user/CBCTheNational?sub_confirmation=1Connect with The National online:Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/thenationalTwitter | https://twitter.com/CBCTheNationalInstagram | https://www.instagram.com/cbcthenationalMore from CBC News | https://www.cbc.ca/newsThe National is CBC's flagship nightly news program, featuring the day's top stories with in-depth and original journalism, with hosts Adrienne Arsenault and Andrew Chang in Toronto, Ian Hanomansing in Vancouver and the CBC's chief political correspondent, Rosemary Barton in Ottawa. [17][20], In 2017, Bitcoin experienced a speculative frenzy rising in price from about US$1,000 to almost US$20,000. Lawyers for customers of an insolvent cryptocurrency exchange have asked police to exhume the body of the companys founder, amid efforts to recover about $190m in Bitcoin which were locked in an online black hole after his death. In November 2018 the case was decided with the accounts going to the court to decide the ownership individually. 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. 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 you get rid of the fees. I'm new to this subreddit, I apologise if anything I have said breaks the rules. 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. Its pretty much money by people for people.. It just wasnt there. I just prayed. Like other crypto-exchanges, Quadriga kept its funds in so-called cold wallets, digital storage devices not connected to the internet, which are safe from hacking. Despite no concrete evidenceindeed, the murdered mans. Furious investors continue to fight a legal battle to try and have Cotten's body exhumed as they believe his death was a cut and run scam. Subsequent investigations found that Michael Patryn, one of the co-founders, registered the domain name for QuadrigaCXnot Gerry. He was 30-years-old at the time of his death. [21], Throughout 2018, as Bitcoin prices crashed, customers of the exchange reported delays when attempting to withdraw dollars. Dying from Crohn's disease when only 1.6% of sufferers from this disease die of it and to happen to die from . 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. Supposedly, Cottens business associates didnt even know he was married. So the. According to the documentary, thats around the time that Cotten started to invest his money in islands, cars and property, traveling the world while running his exchange. 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. So far, only about $46 million has been recovered. I took out three loans from the bank and put it all into crypto. His body was embalmed and sent back to Canada for a closed-casket funeral. [3][4][5], Quadriga likely never invested the funds entrusted to it, according to Chainalysis, a cryptocurrency tracking firm. 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. The accounting firm Ernst & Young, tasked with auditing the company as it undergoes bankruptcy proceedings, discovered numerous money-losing trades executed by Cotten, using customers funds. Their online exchange launched after the first month. Zou trusted Quadriga CX, Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange, with C$500,000 (305,000). The user said that he left the company in 2016, and that the company was legitimate at the time. 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. One of the. X-rays. 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. But the mingling didnt end there: the crypto kingpin also allegedly mixed client money with his own, according to investigators, funding the lavish lifestyle he became known for. Given the intrigue, some went so far as to question whether Mr Cotten had really died and demanded his body be exhumed. His clients were locked out of about $250 million, and investigators later. Cotten neglected to pass on the passwords to the accounts, and in 2019, when investigators tracked down Cotten's digital wallets, all the money was gone. 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. Image Source: Social Media. Gerald Cotten's body should be exhumed, investors in QuadrigaCX tell https://bit.ly/3cAIH4j Newest Vid's https://bit.ly/3JkFmEqFollow Us On Facebook https://bit.ly/3oh5cS8Gerald Cotten or Gerry Cotten's life and tragic passing are shrouded in mystery. Then in January, 2019, Cottens wife Jennifer Robertson announced that he had died a month earlier. His death sparked online debates and string theories on Reddit and. [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. Crypto CEO's Mysterious Death Will Be Made Into Netflix Doc Even after Cotten's death news, some people still believe that he is alive, and one of the main reasons is because of his mysterious death. [6], Ernst & Young was appointed as an independent monitor while Quadriga was granted temporary legal protection from its creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. Angry and suspicious investors congregated on Reddit and Telegram to try to get to the bottom of the mystery. Some 76,000 investors like Zou collectively lost out. Netflix has tried to get to the bottom of things in its new 90-minute doc; read on to uncover the wild tale of Gerald Cotten. Resides in Beverly Hills, CA. Exit Scam host Aaron Lammer told CoinDesk: "My read was that, on some level, Gerry was addicted to scamming, "Addicted to stealing peoples money. In other news, Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 4 to release Fall 2023, confirms new trailer, Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King | Official Trailer | Netflix, https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vW2BPQ15OSw/hqdefault.jpg. [37] According to an affidavit by the CEO's widow, approximately 115,000 customers are owed C$250 million (US$190 million), most of which was cryptocurrency held in Quadriga's cold wallet in the laptop that only the deceased CEO had access to. Retrieved 18 January 2022. , 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. The thing is, a CEOs death shouldnt lock customers out of their money. The media dragged Gerald Cotten's wife, Jennifer Robertson, into the spotlight after his mysterious death. Front Burner- Inside Canada's Crypto Mystery, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King, "Investigation of Quadriga cryptocurrency debacle turns up only $28 million in assets", "Nothing sinister about bitcoin company CEO's sudden death, friend says", "Troubled Bitcoin trader QuadrigaCX takes another bizarre turn", "Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga seeks creditor protection", "Bitcoin Accounts for 95% of Cryptocurrency Crime, Says Analyst", "Crypto-Exchange Says It Can't Pay Investors Because Its C.E.O. **Warning Spoilers ahead for Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King**. Like the end of a classic Ponzi, the OSC said that due to Cottens bad trades, QuadrigaCX couldnt afford to credit customers who withdrew funds. Before Quadriga: How shady ventures in Gerald Cotten's youth led to the [50], Quadriga's lawyer, the firm Stewart McKelvey, withdrew from the case due to a potential conflict of interest. Where was the rest of the money? A sneak preview of the Netflix doc contains images that suggest the documentary will show the investors dive deeper into these conspiracies. [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. He graduated from York in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. Overcast with rain showers at times. A Canadian bank froze another $21 million of funds. Is Gerald Cotten really dead? : r/QuadrigaCX - reddit The Netflix documentary will follow investors-turned-investigators looking into theories on the founder's sudden death.