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Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Fears of Millions of Cryptocurrency Lost After its CEO Sudden Death


Tue 05 Feb 2019 | 03:58 PM
Yassmine Elsayed

By: Yassmine ElSayed

CAIRO, Feb. 5 (SEE) - Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange is unable to access millions in digital currency following the sudden death of its founder, BBC reported.

‘Quadriga’ has filed for creditor protection and estimates that about $137 million in cryptocurrency coins is missing, as it has not been able to locate or secure its reserves since Gerald Cotten died in December, due to complications with Crohn's disease while traveling in India.

Cotten, 30, had sole responsibility for handling the funds and coins.

In court documents filed with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court on 31 January, his widow Jennifer Robertson, says the laptop on which Cotten "carried out the companies' business is encrypted and I do not know the password or recovery key."

The majority of the cryptocurrency was kept by Quadriga in a "cold wallet" or "cold storage", which is located offline and used to secure cryptocurrency from hacking or theft.

The company hired an investigator to see if any information could be retrieved but ongoing efforts have had only "limited success in recovering a few coins" and some information from Cotten's computer and phone.

The company is also investigating whether some of the cryptocurrency could be secured on other exchanges, according to court files.

They say about 115,000 Quadriga users hold balances in their personal accounts in the form of cash obligations and cryptocurrency.

The company estimates it owes about $190 million including $70 million in hard currency.