Crypto CEO dies leaving $190 million locked away
- 5 years ago
NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA — A cryptocurrency exchange company is struggling after its CEO died leaving $190 million locked in his encrypted laptop, reports NPR.
Gerald Cotten was the sole director of Quadriga, Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange and his sudden death has left the company struggling to refund its over 100,000 users.
Cotten's widow, Jennifer Robertson, has been left to clean up the financial mess that ensued after his death. There's only one problem: she doesn't know the password or recovery key to access the computer Cotten used to store the company's crypto funds.
Robertson has since hired experts to break into his laptop and cellphone but they have only been able to gain limited access. The company has filed for bankruptcy protection as it tries to find ways to recover the passwords or refund its users.
And, because this happened in the internet world, conspiracy theories questioning Cotten's death have began popping up.
According to statements issued by his widow on Quadriga's site, Cotten died due to complications with Crohn's disease in Jaipur, India where he was opening an orphanage.
Blockchain news site, Coin Desk retrieved and published Cotten's death certificate but it has raised even more questions as it does not share a cause of death.
Reddit users heavily questioned the legitimacy of Cotten's death certificate with some flat out saying it was definitely staged claiming that forging a death certificate in India isn't too difficult.
Gerald Cotten was the sole director of Quadriga, Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange and his sudden death has left the company struggling to refund its over 100,000 users.
Cotten's widow, Jennifer Robertson, has been left to clean up the financial mess that ensued after his death. There's only one problem: she doesn't know the password or recovery key to access the computer Cotten used to store the company's crypto funds.
Robertson has since hired experts to break into his laptop and cellphone but they have only been able to gain limited access. The company has filed for bankruptcy protection as it tries to find ways to recover the passwords or refund its users.
And, because this happened in the internet world, conspiracy theories questioning Cotten's death have began popping up.
According to statements issued by his widow on Quadriga's site, Cotten died due to complications with Crohn's disease in Jaipur, India where he was opening an orphanage.
Blockchain news site, Coin Desk retrieved and published Cotten's death certificate but it has raised even more questions as it does not share a cause of death.
Reddit users heavily questioned the legitimacy of Cotten's death certificate with some flat out saying it was definitely staged claiming that forging a death certificate in India isn't too difficult.