Investors in cryptocurrency exchange demand founder's body be exhumed

In this file photo taken on March 19, 2018 two technicians inspect bitcoin mining at Bitfarms in Saint Hyacinthe, Quebec
In this file photo taken on March 19, 2018 two technicians inspect bitcoin mining at Bitfarms in Saint Hyacinthe, Quebec

Investors in a cryptocurrency exchange who lost access to tens of millions of dollars when the website's Canadian founder died abruptly, are demanding his body be exhumed to rule out any chance that he faked his own death.

The case focuses on the sudden death of QuadrigaCX founder Gerald Cotten, who passed away aged 30 from Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel condition, in December 2018 while traveling in India, taking all the passwords to the site's funds with him to the grave.

A letter sent on Friday on behalf of the exchange's clients by law firm Miller Thomson, demanded that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police "conduct an exhumation and post-mortem autopsy on the body of Gerald Cotten to confirm both its identity and the cause of death given the questionable circumstances" surrounding his death.

Cotten's widow, Jennifer Robertson, said she could not find the passwords to his on which he ran his business from the eastern Canadian city of Halifax.

The young tech entrepreneur was the only one who knew the codes, which afforded access to some $180 million (122 million euros) in cryptocurrencies, belonging to 115,000 clients.

With rumors and swirling that Cotten might have faked his own death and made off with the funds, the company placed itself under and Robertson said she had received on the internet.

The law firm is demanding that the exhumation of Cotten's body be carried out by spring 2020, "given decomposition concerns."

Robertson issued a statement via her own legal representatives saying she was "devastated" by the demand.

The Canadian federal police had not made any comment in response to an AFP request by Monday.

© 2019 AFP

Citation: Investors in cryptocurrency exchange demand founder's body be exhumed (2019, December 16) retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://techxplore.com/news/2019-12-investors-cryptocurrency-exchange-demand-founder.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Bitcoin exchange president's death puts millions out of reach

3 shares

Feedback to editors