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Crypto firm sends $519,000 in Bitcoin to dead man's wallet

Lucy Dean
Whoops. Image: Getty
Whoops. Image: Getty

The one good thing about hitting rock bottom is that, generally, the only way is up.

But that isn’t always the case, cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has learnt.

The Canadian firm made headlines earlier this year after it lost access to about AU$266 million in cryptocurrency when the only person with the access codes to the electronic wallet died.

Now Ernst and Young, which is acting for the company, has reported QuadrigaCX sent 103 bitcoin — around AU$519,000 — to the cold storage wallet it was locked out of. After it had been locked out.

Founder Gerald Cotten died in India last year, but as Mashable reports, an affidavit filed by Cotten’s widow Jennifer Robertson reveals the company sent more than one hundred bitcoin to the inaccessible wallet despite knowing it couldn’t be accessed.

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“On February 6, 2019, Quadriga inadvertently transferred 103 bitcoins valued at approximately $468,675 to Quadriga cold wallets which the company is currently unable to access,” the report says.

“[Ernst and Young] is working with management to retrieve this cryptocurrency from the various cold wallets, if possible.”

To avoid future crypto-catastrophes, Ernst and Young plans to transfer QuadrigaCX’s remaining cryptocurrency to another cold wallet that the professional services firm can access.

Many of QuadrigaCX’s former account holders are taking the exchange to court, with 427 affected users having already sought legal counsel.

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