Review on QuadrigaCX by Benaiah A. Akinlade
Unveiling the Scam of QuadrigaCx
QuadrigaCx was founded by both Gerald William Cotton (CEO) and Michael Patryn in 2013. It was the largest Crypto exchange in the country with an enormous customer base.
Cotton was rumored to be dead in December 2018, after traveling to India. After the news if his death, it was discovered that around C$250 million owed to over 100,000 customers by the company could not be accessed because only him (Cotton) had the password to the wallets.
It was alleged the all transactions were carried out on his personal computer.
After investigating the company, Gerald Cotten was found to have committed a series of fraudulent activities with investors monies:
1. The company owes over 76,000 clients with combined $215,000,000 in assets. It was also discovered that Cotten mismanaged the assets his clients deposited with the company indiscriminately.
2. The company also lost $28,000,000 while trading client assets on three external cryptocurrency platforms without the prior consent of the clients.
3. He started paying customers with other clients’ money deposited he lost a lot of money when the price of crypto assets changed, and the company could not satisfy the withdrawal needs of customers.
4. QuadrigaCx misled customers about how their assets will be stored.
5. There was absolutely no transparency in the activities of the company so customers have no idea how their money and assets are being used. This was a facilitating factor in his fraudulent activities.
The platform closed shop by February 5 and consequently filed for creditor protection.
Many people still believe that Cotten is alive and faked his death as a coverup and I believe that too.
Pros
- NA
Cons
- The company duped investors coldbloodely
- The CEO traded with customers’ funds for selfish reasons
- The company destroyed the livelihood of thousands of people
- It is a well planned and organised ponzi scheme
