The Daily Hodl
  • FEATURES
    • News
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Altcoins
    • Financeflux
    • Trading
    • NFTs
    • Blockchain
    • Futuremash
    • Regulators
    • Scams, Hacks & Breaches
  • HODLX
    • Latest Stories
    • FAQ
    • Submit Guest Post
  • INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS
    • Latest
    • Press Releases
    • Chainwire
    • Sponsored Posts
    • Submit Your Content
  • CRYPTO MARKETS
  • SUBMIT
    • Guest Post
    • Press Release
    • Sponsored Post
    • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
  • FEATURES
    • News
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Altcoins
    • Financeflux
    • Trading
    • NFTs
    • Blockchain
    • Futuremash
    • Regulators
    • Scams, Hacks & Breaches
  • HODLX
    • Latest Stories
    • FAQ
    • Submit Guest Post
  • INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS
    • Latest
    • Press Releases
    • Chainwire
    • Sponsored Posts
    • Submit Your Content
  • CRYPTO MARKETS
  • SUBMIT
    • Guest Post
    • Press Release
    • Sponsored Post
    • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
The Daily Hodl
No Result
View All Result

New Clues Emerge As Canadian Crypto Exchange Scrambles to Find $145 Million in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and More

by Daily Hodl Staff
February 16, 2019
in Trading

The deceased CEO of embattled Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX may have stored the private keys to his customers’ cryptocurrency in a safety deposit box.

The revelations surfaced as the exchange scrambles to find access to its users’ digital assets following the death of Gerald Cotten. The exchange says he passed away in December of 2018, and since that time it claims it has no access to $145 million ($190 million CAD) in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV and Bitcoin Gold.

The exchange says Cotten was the only person with access to the vast majority of its customers’ funds as he was the only one who held the private keys.

In a March 2014 episode of the True Bromance Podcast, Cotten talked about best practices for securing private keys that enable users to access crypto funds and make transactions.

“It’s like burning cash in a way. Even the US government with the biggest computers in the world could not retrieve those coins if you’ve lost the private key. It’s impossible to retrieve those.”

“The paper wallet is a great way to store your Bitcoins. Basically, all you need to send Bitcoins is your private key, which is a string of a ton of numbers and letters. The best way to do it is take your private key, print it off, store it offline in your safety deposit box, vault, whatever, and then take the public key, which is your address, and use that to send money to it. So that way you can never have your Bitcoin stolen, unless someone, like, breaks into the bank, steals your safety deposit box and gets into your private key and so forth.”

“At Quadriga CX, we’re obviously holding a bunch of Bitcoins that belong to other people who have put them onto our exchange. So what we do is, we actually store them offline in paper wallets, in our bank’s vault in a safety deposit box because that’s the best way to keep the coins secure.”

“Essentially we put a bunch of paper wallets into the safety deposit box, remember the addresses of them. So we just send money to them. We don’t need to go back to the bank every time we want to put money into it. We just send money from our Bitcoin app directly to those paper wallets, and keep it safe that way.” 

In an affidavit filed in January, Jennifer Robertson, Cotten’s widow, states that she does not have knowledge of the private keys.

“The laptop computer from which Gerry carried out the Companies’ business is encrypted and I do not know the password or recovery key. Despite repeated and diligent searches, I have not been able to find them (the passwords) written down anywhere.”

On February 5th, the exchange was granted creditor protection for 30 days, shielding it from investor lawsuits.

[the_ad id="42537"] [the_ad id="42536"]
 
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.
Submit a Press Release

Industry Announcements

  • BTCC Exchange Appoints Dan Liu as CEO Ahead of 14th Anniversary Milestone
    May 21, 2025
  • Bitcoin Suisse Secures In-Principle Approval From ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority
    May 21, 2025
  • Beer 2.0 – The Memecoin That’s Brewing Something Bigger on Solana
    May 20, 2025
  • Wall Street Ponke Launches With AI Tools, Learning Hub and Over $300,000 Raised in Hours
    May 20, 2025
  • Reppo Launches World’s First Liquid Node Sale, Pioneering Decentralized Data Infrastructure
    May 20, 2025
  • BingX AI Evolution Begins – A $300 Million Vision To Build the Future of AI-Powered Crypto
    May 20, 2025
  • Imrat Group Gains Priority Access to New Product – Bybit Launches Direct Stock Trading via Tether Stablecoin
    May 20, 2025
Submit a Guest Post
ADVERTISEMENT
Bitcoin
$109,642.38
$109,642.38
2.7%
Ethereum
$2,569.62
$2,569.62
1.62%
BNB
$675.19
$675.19
3.76%
Solana
$174.16
$174.16
3.53%
XRP
$2.40
$2.40
1.94%

Spotlight

  • Here’s When It’ll Be Time To Flip Cautious on Crypto Markets, According to Analyst Jason Pizzino
    May 14, 2025
  • SEC Chair Paul Atkins Says Rational Regulatory Framework Needed for US To Become ‘Crypto Capital of the Planet’
    May 14, 2025
  • Low Cap Nasdaq-Listed Firm Reveals $300,000,000 Fundraising Plan To Acquire Crypto, Including President’s TRUMP Token: Report
    May 14, 2025
  • JPMorgan Chase Settles First Transaction on Public Blockchain Using Chainlink (LINK) and Ondo Finance (ONDO): Report
    May 14, 2025
DON'T MISS A BEAT
Crypto headlines delivered daily
to your inbox
BTC, ETH, XRP news alert options
By joining The Daily Hodl news list you agree to our
Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
Featured Image: Shutterstock/Billion Photos

Covering the future of finance, including macro, bitcoin, ethereum, crypto, and web 3.

Categories

Bitcoin • Ethereum • Trading •
Altcoins • Futuremash • Financeflux •
Blockchain • Regulators • Scams •
HodlX • Press Releases

 

ABOUT US | EDITORIAL POLICY | PRIVACY POLICY
TERMS AND CONDITIONS | CONTACT | ADVERTISE

JOIN US ON TELEGRAM

JOIN US ON X

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

COPYRIGHT © 2017-2025 THE DAILY HODL

No Result
View All Result
  • FEATURES
    • News
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Altcoins
    • Financeflux
    • Trading
    • NFTs
    • Blockchain
    • Futuremash
    • Regulators
    • Scams, Hacks & Breaches
  • HODLX
    • Latest Stories
    • FAQ
    • Submit Guest Post
  • INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS
    • Latest
    • Press Releases
    • Chainwire
    • Sponsored Posts
    • Submit Your Content
  • CRYPTO MARKETS
  • SUBMIT
    • Guest Post
    • Press Release
    • Sponsored Post
    • Advertise

© 2025 The Daily Hodl