Gerald Cotten was popular as the CEO of one of Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, QuadrigaCX. When his demise happened during his trip to Jaipur, India, with his bride Jennifer Robertson, many people suspected and called it fake, alleging that Cotten was running a ponzi scheme with QuadrigaCX.

Even after years of his demise, Gerald Cotten recently became popular with a Netflix documentary “Trust No One: The Hunt for The Crypto King” and is now being called as “The Crypto King”. Did Gerald Cotten run a ponzi scheme and covered it up with his fake demise and is still alive? Let us discuss everything about Cotten in this article.

Gerald Cotten Biography

Who Was Gerald Cotten?

Gerald William Cotten was a Canadian businessman and one of the pioneering crypto evangelists. He grew up in Ontario, Canada, and completed his education from York University with a business degree. In the early years of crypto, Cotten was one of the few people to believe in blockchain and crypto technology to transform the financial industry. He supported Bitcoin and was even a part of Vancouver Bitcoin Co-op in 2013.

Gerald Cotten also played an important role in educating Canadians about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Apart from establishing one of the largest crypto exchanges, Cotten helped his users and crypto enthusiasts in general to understand the potential of crypto trading. Gerald Cotten was also a sponsor of local crypto educational events, charities, and others.

Gerald Cotten: CEO of QuadrigaCX

Around three years after his graduation, Gerald Cotten co-founded QuadrigaCX, along with Mike Patryn in 2013. The crypto exchange primarily focused on facilitating local Bitcoin trades. The company gradually expanded with small staff, educating people about crypto, as well as providing crypto exchange services.

Gerald Cotten, with his team, tried to take QuadrigaCX public by listing on Canadian Securities Exchange. However, they had trouble raising funds and the company didn’t go public in 2015. Slowly, one after the other, everyone left the company except Gerald Cotten. It was more like a one-man show as Cotten ran the company from his laptop and there was no permanent office.

Despite all the odds, QuadrigaCX grew in popularity and adoption and witnessed significant profits in the 2017’s crypto bull run. The volatility of cryptocurrencies couldn’t maintain the bull run for long. After reaching over 350,000 users with billions of dollars trading in the exchange, users tried to cash out when Bitcoin crashed in 2018.

Several users complained stating they couldn’t withdraw funds from the exchange. Later, the exchange went offline and the news of Gerald Cotten’s demise changed everything. All the funds were locked in a cold wallet and no one has the access to it except Gerald Cotten. And, his mysterious demise took away around $190 million worth of funds, just like that.

Is Gerald Cotten Still Alive?

During the 2018 crypto bear market, users tried and failed to withdraw their money from the exchange. Some of them even complained that their support tickets were getting closed even though the issues were not resolved. This scenario continued for several months in 2018. Leaving his customers at dismay, Gerlad Cotten went on a trip to India with his new bride, Jennifer Robertson, in December 2018.

The struggles of users continued and a month later, in January 2019, it was announced that Gerald Cotten was no more. As per the official records, Cotten was suffering from chron’s desease and during the trip, his situation complicated with intestinal obstruction and perforation. After being admitted to a local private hospital in Jaipur, India, Cotten passed away as the condition got worse.

In the following days, the QuadrigaCX exchange went offline for maintenance. And, the exchange platform owed $190 million to its customers. Jennifer Roberson stated that even though she has his laptop and other belongings, she doesn’t have the password or the recovery phrase of the cold wallet, in which exchange funds are stored.

However, it seems strange considering that the customers couldn’t withdraw their funds for several months before his demise. Adding to this, Gerald Cotten signed a will on November 27, 2018, stating that all his financial assets belong to his wife, parents, and siblings after his death.

Signing a will right before weeks of his death, and the issues at QuadrigaCX made the situation a lot more suspicious. This led some people to assume that the whole demise situation is fake and Gerald Cotten is still alive. Nonetheless, customers lost around $190 million worth of funds and there is no way get the funds back now.

Gerald Cotten’s Net Worth and Documentaries

At the time of his demise, or disappearance, Gerald Cotten’s net worth was around $250 million. Apart from the exchange platform’s $190 million dollars, he took his other financial assets to the grave. As per the will he signed in November 2018, his parents are owners of his Sailboat and his brother Bradley is owner of his private aircraft.

Based on this story, several documentaries came up – “Dead Man’s Switch: A Crypto Mystery” and the recent Netflix’s show, “Trust No one: The Hunt for the Crypto King”, streaming from 2021. It was also in the podcast titled “A Death in Crypto Land” in 2021. However, the mystery is not yet resolved and no one knows if the Gerald Cotten was alive or dead.

Conclusion

Gerald Cotten was a popular influenctial figure in the crypto industry, raising awareness about crypto and Bitcoin in the early years. Things took a dark turn when his demise was announced and the exchange platform was under maintainance. Keeping the facts and allegations aside, this story emphasizes the importance of using cold wallets and keeping the keys safe, instead of relying on centralized exchange platforms.

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