Cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has carried out transactions three years after its collapse

The well-known cryptocurrency whistleblower blogger ZachXBT has recorded the movement of 104 BTC (equivalent to $ 1,753,263 at the December 21 exchange rate) from five addresses associated with the closed Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX. The transactions were made on December 17, three years after the company’s bankruptcy.

Five wallets attributed to QuadrigaCX unexpectedly moved ~104 BTC on Dec 17 for the first time in years.

1ECUQLuioJbFZAQchcZq9pggd4EwcpuANe
1J9Fqc3TicNoy1Y7tgmhQznWrP5AVLXj9R
1MhgmGaHwLAvvKVyFvy6zy9pRQFXaxwE9M
1HyYMMCdCcHnfjwMW2jE4cv9qVkVDFUzVa
1JPtxSGoekZfLQeYAWkbhBhkr2VEDADHZB

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) December 19, 2022

ZachXBT noted that 69 BTC ($ 1.16 million) was sent from two addresses to the Wasabi cryptocurrency mixer. In the comments to the crypto blogger’s post on Twitter, users suggested that the transactions were carried out by QuadrigaCX co-founder Michael Patrin (@0xsifu). Patrin himself said that three years ago, these assets were sent by mistake by a QuadrigaCX employee to an inaccessible address when the exchange’s funds were monitored by Ernst & Young (EY).

In 2019, the court appointed Ernst & Young as an observer of QuadrigaCX’s assets. At the same time, the firm reported accidental transfers of 103 BTC ($ 469,000 at the time) to five cold wallets of unknown companies. Blockchain analysts linked these addresses to QuadrigaCX wallets, and they are now active.

Magdalena Gronowska, a member of the QuadrigaCX creditors' committee, said that the exchange’s bankruptcy inspectors were informed about the movement of funds, but had nothing to do with the transactions. According to her, the team is working to return the cryptocurrency.

Vancouver-based QuadrigaCX, once one of Canada’s largest crypto exchanges, filed for bankruptcy about three months after its founder, Gerald Cotten, died in India due to complications from Crohn’s disease. After Cotten’s death, no one was able to access his personal laptop, pick up his work passwords, or obtain any information about his activities. Cotten personally controlled the private keys (known only to the owner) to the QuagrigaCX operational wallets, all of which are different from the five bitcoin addresses that have recently been active.

The death of the crypto exchange’s founder provoked speculation that it was actually a fiction. It even went so far as to demand that Cotten’s creditors exhume his body to confirm his death.

As a reminder, Netflix has released a documentary called Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King, dedicated to the QuadrigaCX collapse and the death of Gerald Cotten. In the story, deceived investors become detectives and investigate the death of QuadrigaCX CEO. The investors are also trying to recover hundreds of millions of dollars of lost funds. According to the newly-minted investigators, it was Cotten who stole the money and then faked his own death.