Reported: QuadrigaCX QCX (Exchange)
Compiled by ScamMarketCap from public recordsHappened Jan 31, 2019Canada
QuadrigaCX, a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, announced in January 2019 that its co-founder and chief executive, Gerald Cotten, had died in India the month before. Within weeks it stopped operating and sought creditor protection, saying it could not access customers' funds. More than 76,000 clients were owed about C$215 million.
A review by Ontario Securities Commission staff, published in June 2020, concluded that the collapse resulted from fraud by Cotten. It found he had opened accounts under aliases, credited himself with fictitious balances and traded them with clients, so that the platform operated like a Ponzi scheme. Clients lost at least C$169 million. The OSC said enforcement action was not practical because Cotten had died and Quadriga was bankrupt.
The bankruptcy trustee, Ernst & Young, recovered or identified about C$46 million. In May 2023 it announced an interim payout of about 13% of creditors' claims.
This case file is compiled from public records and established reporting. Status as of the last update, Nov 1, 2026.
Case files summarize court records, regulator actions and established reporting.
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