Hong Kong sources stated that the death of Canadian entrepreneur Gerald Cotten, died due to complications with Crohn's disease while travelling in India in December, has left a huge stash of crypto currencies locked off from the people who own them. Accordingly Quadriga, Canada's biggest crypto currency exchange, said it's unable to gain access to $145 million of bitcoin and other digital assets after the death of Cotten, its 30 year old CEO and Co-Founder.
Reportedly many of the digital currencies held by Quadriga are stored offline in accounts known as "cold wallets," a way of protecting them from hackers. Cotten appears to have been the only person with access to the wallets, according to court documents cited by Canadian media and posted online by crypto currency news site CoinDesk.
Moreover as per report the company hired an investigator to see if any information could be retrieved but ongoing efforts have had only "limited success in recovering a few coins" and some information from Cotten's computer and phone. Accordingly the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi told that it was aware of Cotten's death and had "provided consular assistance," but declined to reveal further details.
