Customers of a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange are reportedly unable to access $190 million of funds after the company’s founder died with the passwords needed to access the money.

Gerald Cotten, the 30-year-old founder of QuadrigaCX, died due to complications with Crohn’s disease, according to Sky News, citing Cotten’s wife, Jennifer Robertson. The executive reportedly passed away in December while traveling in India to open an orphanage.

Citing a sworn affidavit by Robertson as she filed for credit protection, Sky News reports that Cotten held “sole responsibility for handling the funds and coins.”

About $190 million in cryptocurrency and traditional money is said to be in “cold storage,” with the digital key held by Cotten. While Robertson has Cotten’s laptop, she does not know its password and even a security expert has been unable to get past the device’s encryption.

Fox News

the existing associates are not willing to let go of people's investment, how would they no one could crack the code of his system?
get better hackers I beg and release people's funds under your custody.
our tech guru should come to the rescue here.

SEGLIZ:
the existing associates are not willing to let go of people's investment, how would they no one could crack the code of his system?
get better hackers I beg and release people's funds under your custody.
our tech guru should come to the rescue here.

The keys are saved in cold storage
The cryptocurrencies are gone...no solution

SoNature:


The keys are saved in ###cold storage###
The cryptocurrencies are gone...no solution

please I don't get it. he threw the key in an underground freezer where no one can locate and decide to die or what?
###cold storage### the guy must be a devil acquired enough for his family and friend the took a walk.

SEGLIZ:

please I don't get it. he threw the key in an underground freezer where no one can locate and decide to die or what?
###cold storage### the guy must be a devil acquired enough for his family and friend the took a walk.

The explanation is technical. First of all, a key is a string of characters, like a password, NOT a padlock opener. So, users need these keys to navigate around their cryptocurrency wallets.

When cryptocurrency keys are 'kept in cold storage,' it means a location that is not connected to the Internet. Yes, that's the best thing that can happen to those keys because cybercriminals wouldn't be able to access them. Typical examples are storing keys in flash drives, laptops without internet access, etc.

But the problem with the man is that he didn't tell anyone else how to access the keys before he died. The thing is that obviously, the company does not have a good private key management policy. That's simply because the man never thought of what would happen to customers' funds IF he dies. Please that doesn't make him a devil. Just bad planning.

SoNature:


The explanation is technical. First of all, a key is a string of characters, like a password, NOT a padlock opener. So, users need these keys to navigate around their cryptocurrency wallets.

When cryptocurrency keys are 'kept in cold storage,' it means a location that is not connected to the Internet. Yes, that's the best thing that can happen to those keys because cybercriminals wouldn't be able to access them. Typical examples are storing keys in flash drives, laptops without internet access, etc.

But the problem with the man is that he didn't tell anyone else how to access the keys before he died. The thing is that obviously, the company does not have a good private key management policy. That's simply because the man never thought of what would happen to customers' funds IF he dies. Please that doesn't make him a devil. Just bad planning.

thanks a lot for this exposition, I learnt something new. could at the least trusted his wife with it, in situation of per adventure.
like you said bad planning.