News of Gerald Cotton’s death has certainly kicked up a storm. Cotton was the only person who had access to $190 million worth of customers’ funds. Now that he has passed away, people can’t withdraw their funds.
From questioning the absurdity of the situation through to full-blown conspiracy theories, here is a round-up of the responses from the crypto community.
Twitter user Boxmining, who has over 78,000 followers, noted:
“Co-founder Michael Patryn has been using a fake name. His real name is Omar Dhanani who was convicted of fraud (operating an online marketplace for identity theft) in the United States and was released in 2007.”
QuadrigaCX case Update: Co-founder Michael Patryn has been a using a fake name. His real name is Omar Dhanani who was convicted of fraud (operating an online marketplace for identity theft) in the United States and was released in 2007. Identity not SAFU pic.twitter.com/wHRDgWsci4
— Boxmining (@boxmining) February 5, 2019
Meanwhile, Adam Back, co-founder and CEO of Blockstream, commented:
“Gotta wonder if there are Quadriga backups, just no documentation on their location. You wouldn’t fly around with $190m about your person, on laptop, phone, wallet, wouldn’t make any sense. And the CEO was an exchange operator, someone who knows IT and backups risk tradeoffs.”
Gotta wonder if there are Quadriga backups, just no documentation on their location. You wouldnt fly around with $190m about your person, on laptop, phone, wallet etc wouldn't make any sense. And the CEO was an exchange operator, someone who knows IT and backups risk tradeoffs.
— Adam Back (@adam3us) February 1, 2019
Peter Todd, an applied cryptography consultant, tried to rationalise the situation:
“I think the psychology of the situation is people want it to be a scam, because at least there’s a chance the bad guys will get caught and the money returned. The current explanation of lost keys is a much worse outcome with no chance of getting the funds back.”
Re: QuadrigaCX I think the psychology of the situation is people _want_ it to be a scam, because at least there's a chance the bad guys will get caught and the money returned.
The current explanation of lost keys is a much worse outcome with ~no chance of getting the funds back.
— Peter Todd/mempoolfullrbf=1 (@peterktodd) February 5, 2019
Nathaniel Popper, a technology reporter for the NY Times, took a pop at the crypto space with his response to an article he read on the situation:
“We lost $150 million in cryptocurrencies that we held for customers because our founder died and he was the only one with the passwords to the wallets. Welcome to the financial future!”
We lost the $150 million in cryptocurrencies that we held for customers because our founder died and he was the only one with the passwords to the wallets. Welcome to the financial future! https://t.co/81auPh1lxZ
— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) February 1, 2019
Elsewhere, a riled customer told CBC that he tried to withdraw $15,000 from his account back in October, but discovered that he could not withdraw his funds.
You can read more about the death of Gerald Cotton and how $190 million worth of funds is currently locked away here.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.