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What to expect this week (Mar. 18)

• The Crypto CEO who stole everyone’s money and faked his death 🤑

• Monday’s Monster Pick 🐲

• ⛏️ Latest Mining/Exploration News

Is this crypto CEO still alive after scamming millions from Canadians?

His story began with the rapid rise of cryptocurrency in the mid 2010’s and his wildly successful crypto exchange QuadrigaCX, but ended in 2018 with his timely “death“.

This is the story of how Gerald Cotten stole from thousands of Canadians and vanished, and how his sketchy past led to this inevitable scam.

The Early Warning Signs

In 2004, Gerald Cotten, 15, ventured into the murky world of high-yield investment programs (HYIPs) - basically ponzi schemes.

His venture was called S&S Investments.

He’d put up shady online ads for 150% return investment schemes and take money from investors - when they wanted their return, he’d use newer investor money to pay for the “150%" return”.

Through his online activities, Cotten met Michael Patryn - a known scammer, and the two would go on to start QuadrigaCX.

The Rise of QuadrigaCX

QuadrigaCX emerged in 2013 when Gerald learned of Crypto - and started the exchange with Patryn in Vancouver.

QuadrigaCX quickly gained traction, peaking at over 350,000 users at a time when most people didn’t know what Bitcoin was.

In 2013, it was very difficult to buy crypto, a popular method was to meet in person and transfer, or bitcoin ATM’s.

Part of the reason QuadrigaCX was so popular early on was it’s ease of use.

I remember using it, and it was one of the only sites you could use debit cards to buy crypto.

It turns out, Cotten was using QuadrigaCX customer funds to live his lavish life, and money had been funneling out on a consistent basis.

The scam reveals itself

In 2018, crypto started to crash. And like any good ponzi scheme, Quadriga magically started having problems paying out investors.

Cottens scam started to unravel when it was announced he had suddenly died while on a trip in India.

India is known for the ease at which to fake a death - they even warned about it.

Cotten's sudden death in India plunged QuadrigaCX into chaos, with over $190 million in customer funds un-recoverable.

Of course, Cotten was the only one who could access the cold wallet codes.

The coincidental timing—just as QuadrigaCX faced insolvency—prompted theories about a faked death.

Gerald did have Crohn’s disease - and complications from this resulted in cardiac arrest, or at least that’s what they said the cause of death was.

He was supposedly helping build an orphanage in India, but only planned to be there for 2 hours.

His plans were cut short, less than 24 hrs after he landed in Jaipur, Cotten died.

No autopsy was done - and no one who was interviewed about the death could confirm they saw the body.

While the media was skeptical of his death, the general consensus nwis that he truly died.

But I’m not buying it.

A man who’s life purpose since the age of 15 was to scam people, ends up dead in the one place known for faking deaths, right when his company is having solvency issues.

Occam’s Razor says he’s still alive.

👋 Colton, Stock Monster.

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