A new documentary on his mysterious death called Dead Man's Switch: A Crypto Mystery, airing on Discovery+, looks into accusations the crypto king made off with millions in investors' cash. Then in January, 2019, Cottens wife Jennifer Robertson announced that he had died a month earlier. When he was a 15-year-old in Belleville, Ont., Gerald Cotten was selling get-rich-quick schemes on online forums that taught him how to deceive investors and cover his tracks. Its the swindler story you havent heard of until now. [7] Meanwhile, in order to manage the finances of the company during the process, a third-party monitor, Ernst & Young, was appointed. Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk, Ring removes free perks for millions of users, you'll have pay to get them back, Android users told check for five Google 'danger phrases' don't ignore list, Facebook's hidden list reveals if you're a 'target' for criminals, People are just realizing Apple upgraded the iPhone with 7 life-changing secrets, 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Tong Zou tells his devastating story in new Netflix doc, Gerald 'Gerry' Cotten died in 2018, taking password to access funds with him. Gerald Cleophas Betzen, 68. Widow of Quadriga crypto founder Gerald Cotten says she had no idea Forensic accountants discovered that Gerry was trading against fake users, crediting their account with fake currencies and pocketing the cash, using the proceeds to play the crypto market. A NEW documentary on rogue crypto trader Gerald Cotton, who took up to $215million in Bitcoin and other digital currencies to his grave, has sparked rumours he may have faked his death. I think there were a couple years when it ran legitimately I dont think Gerry could have imagined a future with money pouring in the way it eventually did.. Was he avoiding something or someone? The business was run from Cotten's encrypted laptop from Cotten's home in Fall River, Nova Scotia. In December 2018, Cotten died during his honeymoon with his wife, Jennifer Robertson, in Jaipur, India. Gerald 'Gerry' Cotten | FAKE Behind 'Hunt For The Crypto King' Netflix | Where Are They Now?Subscribe Here! So the. In court filings, it was revealed that Mr Cottens email was listed as Midas Golds contact. reporters had a hunch that this was Gerry Cotten, and traced the account to another online den of thieves, BlackHatWorld. One source in the doco goes as far as to claim Cotton may have used a substance known as "Haitian zombie powder" to fake his death. Their online exchange launched after the first month. Some also believe that Gerald isnt even dead at all but rather hiding away with the hundreds of millions of dollars he controlled. Quadriga Fintech Solutions was the owner and operator of QuadrigaCX, which was believed to be Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange.In 2019 the exchange ceased operations and the company filed for bankruptcy with C$215.7 million in liabilities and about C$28 million in assets.. He passed away in 2018 with the secret of $250 million. Jennifer Robertson, the widow of QuadrigaCX founder Gerald (Gerry) Cotten, will be allowed to keep more than $90,000 cash and a Jeep Cherokee in a settlement agreement with the company's bankruptcy trustee. I personally believe that Cotten is not dead but I would like to hear from people who know more than me about this topic and what they think about the situation. Further complicating the matter the company's co-founder Michael Patryn was revealed to actually be a man named Omar Dhanani, who had previously been convicted in the US of identity fraud. The user said that he left the company in 2016, and that the company was legitimate at the time. Jennifer, scared for her safety, entered a safe house. He was 30-years-old. The public didnt learn about the death for another 36 days, until January 2019. How Gerald Cotten, the "Crypto King," Really Died - Bustle This was my entire savings, built through ten years of work, said one disgruntled customer in the doc. Cotten and Patryn's past: He's also been linked to many other "Cryptocurrency markets" in the past with his old partner Patryn who has changed his name twice because he was charged with laundering money. Gerald Cotten Really Dead ? Gerald Cotten Still Alive ? - Watch Full [7][8] On 8 April 2019 the firm entered bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act as the possibility of a successful reorganization appeared to be remote. According to an investigation by Canada's Globe and Mail, Cotten. He was one of the wealthiest people in the crypto world, and his company was at its pinnacle. Subsequent investigations found that Michael Patryn, one of the co-founders, registered the domain name for QuadrigaCXnot Gerry. as well as other partner offers and accept our. When Taylor Monahan, founder of MyCrypto, examined the exchanges cold wallets, she couldnt find the lost crypto. I really prayed it wasn't a scam. Cbc.ca. Quadriga Fintech Solutions was the owner and operator of QuadrigaCX, which was believed to be Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Is Gerald Cotten Still Alive? Did He Really Die? - The Cinemaholic [6], Ernst & Young was appointed as an independent monitor while Quadriga was granted temporary legal protection from its creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. His body was repatriated to Canada and a funeral was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Gerald Gerry Cotten is the founder of Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga Fintech Solutions and is at the helm of a groundbreaking investment scam that the Netflix documentary investigates. Netflixs documentary definitely seems to be in the corner that Cotten did die, despite the mystery surrounding his death. I'm 99% sure he is still alive living nicely. Resides in Beverly Hills, CA. NOW WATCH: Netflix is headed for a huge profit milestone in 2018, Personal Finance Insider's picks for best cryptocurrency exchanges. seeks to unravel the mystery of Gerald Cotten, the CEO of crypto exchange QuadrigaCX, who died in 2018. Thats when the Globe started to be convinced that he was dead, after all. [43][44] On 13 December 2019, the court-appointed law firm representing the exchange's former users sent a letter to the RCMP asking that they exhume Cotten's body to confirm his identity and verify a cause of death. It is highly unusual for only a single executive to be the one with access to a company's fund, further muddying the waters around what happened to Cotten. A big chunk of it was given to him by his parents. The company's CEO and founder, Gerald William Cotten, allegedly died in 2018 after traveling to India. Mr Cotten, 30 at the time of his death, seemed to be living the dream life of a financial titan. Quadriga's customers are owed C$260 million in cryptocurrency and cash. But when co-founder Cotten died during a honeymoon in India, the money was seemingly lost forever. The doctor stated that while dying from Crohns disease is very rare, Cotten appeared to show signs of illness and suffered from three heart attacks in the same day the paramedics were unable to resuscitate him after his third cardiac arrest. Browse Locations. Miller Thomson LLP sent a letter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Friday, requesting authorities conduct an exhumation and postmortem autopsy on the body of Gerald Cotten, founder of QuadrigaCX, citing what the firm called the questionable circumstances around his death earlier this year. Now Cottens jet-set lifestyle looked suspicious. Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King is now streaming on Netflix. One of the Globe reporters had a hunch that this was Gerry Cotten, and traced the account to another online den of thieves, BlackHatWorld. Mystery of rogue Bitcoin trader who 'died' taking with him password to Thinking that Jennifer had murdered Cotten, the Telegram group spiraled out of control. Gerald Cotten (born 11 May 1988)[14] lived in Belleville, Ontario before attending the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. Mr Cottens story is now the subject of the documentary Dead Mans Switch: A Crypto Mystery, which streams on Discovery+, and in the new memoir of wife Jennifer Robertson, Bitcoin Widow: Love, Betrayal and the Missing Millions. , one of the co-founders, registered the domain name for QuadrigaCXnot Gerry. My sisters not a liar.. Jennifer Robertson (Quadriga) - Wikipedia Then you get rid of the fees. Citing decomposition concerns, lawyers requested the exhumation be completed no later than spring 2020. Investigations into the firm revealed that Mr Cotten made numerous fake accounts on Quadriga to influence trades on the platform, at one time being involved personally in 87 per cent of transactions. CIBC stated that they could not determine the ownership of the money and could not contact Cotten or Quadriga. According to the documentary, thats around the time that Cotten started to invest his money in islands, cars and property, traveling the world while running his exchange. Two years after Liberty Reserve was taken down, the pair launched Quadriga, though Mr Patryn left the company in 2016 over a dispute on whether to list the company publicly and claims no involvement in the resulting schemes. Facebook / Remembering Gerry Cotten In the weeks since Quadriga Fintech Solutions Corp. belatedly made his death public, the exchange's furious users have raised questions. The investors found more questions than answers. Where is Gerald Cotten now from Netflix's Hunt for the Crypto - HITC https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/hiring-a-programmer-website-like-bitstamp-bitcoin-trading-project.605236/. Zou trusted Quadriga CX, Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange, with C$500,000 (305,000). [3][4][5], Quadriga likely never invested the funds entrusted to it, according to Chainalysis, a cryptocurrency tracking firm. His clients were locked out of about $250 million, and investigators later. She has also said she has no idea what the passwords are to access sequestered customer funds, and that it wasnt written down anywhere. And not even. Lammer believes the evidence does suggest that Cotten died suddenly - having battled Crohn's disease for a number of years, even though the timing was suspicious. Overcast with rain showers at times. And meanwhile, Dead Man's Switch director Sheona McDonald said: "There's only two people who really know what happened in India.". Where Is Gerald Cotten Now? - Vimbuzz.com [11] Lawyers for the customers of the exchange have asked that Cotten's body be exhumed.[12]. 4 people named Gerald Betzen found in California, Texas and Massachusetts. Using a reputable custodian to hold the private keys outside the company is perhaps the best option to ensure these codes are not lost, Erik Wilgenhof Plante, the former CCO of the exchange BeQuant, told The Independent at the time. [17] In June 2017, Quadriga announced that they had lost ethereum worth US$14 million due to a smart contract error. thinks that Gerald is deadnor did he ever meet his wife. [34][35], On 14 January 2019,[36] Quadriga announced that their CEO, Gerald Cotten, had died the month prior from Crohn's disease while doing volunteer work at an orphanage in India. The thing about conspiracy theories, though, is that they mutate out of control very quickly, and arent always reflective of the latest evidence. The teen, a bright computer enthusiast from Belleville, Ontario, ran the operation on an online forum called TalkGold, and promised his investors inconceivable returns of up to 150 per cent in two days. "You appear dead for a few days, until you get the cure," the source said. In her memoir, Ms Robertson denies shes part of an elaborate plot to fake her husbands death, adding that speculation has led to death threats from stalkers demanding she returns the missing millions. "Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King". Fourteen trading accounts that were also examined were used to trade on other exchanges. **Warning Spoilers ahead for Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King**. Gerald died while on a honeymoon with his wife Jennifer in India, Cotten has been recast since his death as a thrill-seeking scammer, Michael Patryn - real name Omar Dhanani - had previously been convicted of identity fraud, Bitcoin miner electrocuted to death by his computer after forcing it to churn out endless amounts of crypto. Gerald Cotten is a bitcoin millionaire from Canada whose death, supposedly from complications relating to Crohn's disease, is now being questioned. However, in 2018, Bitcoin prices crashed and many began withdrawing their funds from Quadriga, except they were being met with error messages before the exchanges website stopped working in 2019. Now . Crypto CEO's Mysterious Death Will Be Made Into Netflix Doc At this point, lots of investors think that Cotten, a man alleged to have a history of scamming, really had faked his own death. It was alleged that Patryn was involved in a money-laundering ring under a different nameOmar Dhanani. Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? His body was embalmed and sent back to Canada for a closed-casket funeral. The documentary follows a group of Quadriga investors turned sleuths who dig into the suspicious death of Cotten and the millions of missing cryptocurrency they believe Cotten stole from them, according to a tweet from Netflix announcing the film. Still, questions about the missing money only mounted when two Globe and Mail reporters followed up on the case. In December of 2018, the jet-setting crypto couple headed to India for their honeymoon, where Mr Cotten died of complications from Crohns disease, 12 days after modifying his will. The funeral, according to a Redditor claiming to be a contractor for QuadrigaCX, said that it was a closed-casket affair, and that Jennifer was fake grieving and dancing at the funeral to bacchanalian excess, and even kicked out Geralds family. Conspiracy theorists insist that Cotten faked his own death, however, as many irregularities surrounding his death began to circulate, including a copy of his misspelled death certificate and the fact that his funeral had a closed casket. Customers reported that once they arrived, there was nobody in the office, or that there was no cash to be disbursed. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. [17][29] Bloomberg also identified Patryn as Dhanani, showing that he had officially changed his name from Omar Dhanani to Omar Patryn in British Columbia in March 2003 and changed it again to Michael Patryn in October 2008. Tong Zou is one of thousands of customers left seriously out of pocket following Gerald 'Gerry' Cotten's mysterious death in 2018 at the age of 30. (Neither men were charged in connection with Liberty Reserve). What really happened to Gerald Cotten, Netflix's Crypto King? Cotten In 2013 was looking for a programmer to help him create a bitcoin marketplace using the account name Murdoch1337 on a BlackHat Forum and this account was last seen active in August 2019 at this point he should have been "dead" for a long time. Indeed, QuadrigaCX launched just three months after sceptre put out a call to build a crypto exchange. California (2) Massachusetts (1) Texas (2) Refine Your Search Results. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, A lost password, a sudden death and $180M in missing crypto, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, 50 cash with friend referrals at Virgin Mobile, 15% off extra plans with this Vodafone promo, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. He appointed Peter Wedlake of Grant Thornton to be chief restructuring officer. Some 76,000 investors like Zou collectively lost out. I put myself into a deep hole and the only way to dig out of it was to sell my house.. To add credence to the theory that he faked his own death and is still alive, Bloomberg reported that the crypto exchange founder filed his will just 12 days before he apparently died. We just send money from our Bitcoin app directly to those paper wallets, and keep it safe that way. Jilted investors of Cotton's crypto firm QuadrigaCX have demanded his corpse be exhumed and tests run to confirm its his body. Widow of Quadriga crypto founder Gerald Cotten says she had no idea about the $215-million scam In an exclusive interview, Jennifer Robertson speaks out publicly about her deceased husband,. Living a jet set life, he cruised the world on yachts, flew in private jets and investigators even released photos of piles of cash on his kitchen table. [33], Cotten's will was signed 27 November 2018, twelve days before he allegedly died. "At that point, we were desperate to recover funds and we were also convinced that a scam was underway," said QCX-INT, an individual who uncovered online documentation of Mr Cottens history of fraudulent behaviour, speaking anonymously to the CBC this year. Died, and He Had the Passwords", "Pre-filing report of the proposed monitor", "Controversial QuadrigaCX cryptocurrency exchange placed in bankruptcy", "Quadriga Should Shift to Bankruptcy Proceedings, Monitor Says", "FBI Probing Bitcoin Exchange Quadriga Over Missing $136 Million, Source Alleges", "Quadriga: Lawyers for users of bankrupt crypto firm seek exhumation of founder", "How Gerald Cotten built Quadriga and created the ensuing crypto storm", "Ponzi Schemes, Private Yachts, and a Missing $250 Million in Crypto: The Strange Tale of Quadriga", "Geek Speak: Gerald Cotton, CEO of Quadriga CX", "Crypto chaos: From Vancouver to Halifax, tracing the mystery of Quadriga's missing millions", "Quadriga's late founder used to store clients' Bitcoin passwords on paper so they wouldn't get lost", "A crypto exchange CEO dies-with the only key to $137 million", "Details emerging about Gerald Cotten, the young founder of QuadrigaCX", "My smart contract just ate $14 millionnow what? It stated that Gerald Cotten committed fraud by opening accounts under aliases and crediting himself with fictitious currency and crypto asset balances, which he traded with unsuspecting clients and that "What happened at Quadriga was an old-fashioned fraud wrapped in modern technology. [33] After the exchange was put into maintenance mode for several days in January, they announced on the 31st that they were applying for creditor protection. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Was the CEOknown for his luxurious lifestyle, which included jets, supercars and vacationsmurdered by a mob debt collector or a jealous lover? Gerald died while on a honeymoon with his wife Je [7][8], Quadriga co-founder Michael Patryn was identified by The Globe and Mail as Omar Dhanani, who was convicted on identity theft charges in the U.S. and served 18 months in Federal prison. It was one of the only games in town [for crypto enthusiasts], Sheona McDonald, who directed the film, told The New York Post. https://bit.ly/3cAIH4j Newest Vid's https://bit.ly/3JkFmEqFollow Us On Facebook https://bit.ly/3oh5cS8Gerald Cotten or Gerry Cotten's life and tragic passing are shrouded in mystery. Everyone knows the story about the now-defunct QuadrigaCX . The two first met in November 2014 and had been together for some time before tying the knot in October 2018. [52], The CBC released a 6-episode podcast about Quadriga and the death of its founder called A Death in Cryptoland. Like the end of a classic Ponzi, the OSC said that due to Cottens bad trades, QuadrigaCX couldnt afford to credit customers who withdrew funds. A sneak preview of the Netflix doc contains images that suggest the documentary will show the investors dive deeper into these conspiracies. So what exactly happened to Cotten, and is he still alive somewhere sitting on a mountain of stolen crypto? Then, out of the blue, one Mike Patryn joined the Telegram group that investors were using to discuss conspiracies. "At that time, there was nothing I could do. at the time Canadas largest cryptocurrency exchange, Gerald Cotten, 30, died in questionable circumstances, Canadian company founder took crucial password to the grave. The young entrepreneur seemed to be at the height of his success, traveling around the world with his wife, Jennifer, and leading a jet-setting lifestyle. firms", "What happens when your bitcoin banker dies? There's only two people who really know what happened in India. The only catch: only Gerry knew the passwords to the companys crypto-vaults. Thats when the. [17] In a 2014 interview, founder Gerald Cotten explained that the company stored customer funds on paper wallets in safe deposit boxes: "So we just send money to them, we dont need to go back to the bank every time we want to put money into it. The OSC. #GeraldCotten #QuadrigaCX #Netflix #truecrime #wherearetheynow #gerrycotten #crypto #fraud #docuseries #truestory #biography #whathappenedto ------------------------------------IN THIS VIDEO:Sierra Walker ------------------------------------PRODUCER \u0026 FILMED BY:Chris Stiuso------------------------------------VIDEO EDITED BY:Brianna Raakman: https://www.instagram.com/brianna_raakman/ Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Gerald Cotten. Cotten also took flying lessons as he appeared to be possibly preparing for a life on the run. It certainly started to look like fraud, said one anonymous investor in the doc. The OSC found that after 2016, QuadrigaCX stopped producing consistent data about its holdings, and that large volumes of cryptocurrencies were being sent to foreign crypto exchanges. And, wildly, was Jennifer, his wife, even real? The Secret Life and Strange Death of Quadriga Founder Gerald Cotten Gerald Cotten's body should be exhumed, investors in QuadrigaCX tell Soon enough, QuadrigaCXs customers struggled to withdraw money from the exchange. Mom 'stabs 3 of her kids to death and wounds 2 others in unsupervised visit', Daughter of murdered couple linked to Delphi case reveals paranoia, Serena Williams stepmom's debts continue to spiral amid crumbling home battle, Alex Murdaugh looks unrecognizable in new mugshot hours after sentencing, 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP. Gerald Cotten. Then the Ontario Securities Commission opened an investigation. Gerald and Jennifer kept most of their relationship away from the public. G erald Cotten was 15 when he ran his first documented get-rich-quick scheme. There's also other posts on his Murdoch1337 account that are weird he asks for people to sell him old reddit accounts presumably because he would use these alt accounts to downvote people trying to slander his company or he would make posts on these alts saying how great Quadriga is. Where Is Gerald Cotten's Wife, Jennifer Robertson Now? - Ecelebritymirror Did he Die? Customers have since struggled to regain access to their money, citing withdrawl issues and lack of communication from the company. "I kept asking them: Where's my money? He was 30-years-old at the time of his death. A NEW documentary on rogue crypto trader Gerald Cotton, who took up to $215million in Bitcoin and other digital currencies to his grave, has sparked rumours he may have faked his death. Netflix's 'Trust No One': Who Was QuadrigaCX CEO Gerald Cotten? Gerald 'Gerry' Cotten died in 2018, taking password to access funds with him Credit: Netflix. Cotten neglected to pass on the passwords to the accounts, and in 2019, when investigators tracked down Cotten's digital wallets, all the money was gone. 5 Like other crypto-exchanges, Quadriga kept its funds in so-called cold wallets, digital storage devices not connected to the internet, which are safe from hacking. Cotten passed away from complications that arose from Crohn's disease while on a honeymoon in Indiaapparently taking some $215 million of customer funds to the grave. Cotten had allegedly told his wife he would create a mechanism that would allow her to access all of his crypto-related passwords should he die but. "[46] The Official Ontario Securities report on Quadriga is attached here. [32] It also stated that Quadriga has 363,000 registered users and a sum of C$250 million is owed to 115,000 affected users. He graduated from York in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. His death left investors locked out of their money and left Jennifer Robertson, Gerry's wife . The dude literally said that comment as a complete joke, and I even . Someone tracked Patryn to a scam forum called TalkGold, where Patryn talked to one user in particular, sceptre, a bunch. Mr Patryn pled guilty in 2005 to working in an identity fraud ring, and did business under a company called Midas Gold as an intermediary with Liberty Reserve, a Costa Rican digital currency firm busted as one of the largest money laundering operations in history. Investors who believed that Cotten had faked his own death and ran away with the money had made one huge assumption: that Cotten had money to steal. [15] He learned about Bitcoin in Toronto and travelled to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he founded Quadriga in November 2013 with Michael Patryn. All that money vanished into the crypto ether and only once investigations occured did people start to think that it may have been a scam all along. Where is Gerald Cotten's Wife Jen Robertson Now? - The Cinemaholic And why did the Indian hospital that treated Cotten misspell his name on his death certificate? In their letter to the RCMP the law firm underlined the need for certainty around the question of whether Mr Cotten is in fact deceased. The circumstances are dodgy that they chose to honeymoon to India and he suddenly dies from complications of Crohn's disease. "It just makes me more depressed about it," Zou told Sky News. TRUST NO ONE: THE HUNT FOR THE CRYPTO KINGFollow a group of investors turned sleuths as they try to unlock the suspicious death of cryptocurrency multimillionaire Gerry Cotten and the missing $250 million they believe he stole from them. Netflixs latest true crime documentary, Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King, has arrived on the streaming platforms extensive catalog of intriguing documentaries. A new Netflix true-crime documentary is tackling a bizarre story from the world of cryptocurrency. In November 2018 the case was decided with the accounts going to the court to decide the ownership individually.