Cryptocurrency Exchange Says It Can't Access $190 Million After CEO Un

[NickMNS]

For a bit of schadenfreude that demonstrates some of the hidden risks of participating in the crypto-currency markets.

[wnyc.org...]

... founder and CEO, Gerald Cotten, died at age 30 — without sharing the password for his encrypted laptop.
... [explanation of how wallets are managed]...
What is particularly problematic for Quadriga is that its CEO seems to be the only person who held the keys to those transactions.

"The transfer of coins from the cold wallet to the hot wallet was performed manually by [Cotten]," the affidavit from Robertson states.

Quadriga did not have offices or a bank account of its own; in the court filing, Robertson said, "Gerry ran the business through his laptop, mostly at our home, but also wherever he happened to be."

This should also serve as a reminder to webmasters to be sure to provide access to sites/servers/services to some other trusted person in the event of ones demise. A topic that was discussed recently here:
[webmasterworld.com...]

[graeme_p]

It looks like there is more to this than a simple failure: [ccn.com...]

From the story in the OP

Cotten was "the sole officer and director" of the Canadian cryptocurrency exchange when he died

and

"I do not have any documents or records" for the business, Robertson added

and

Even before Cotten's death, Quadriga was struggling to cope with transaction delays and other problems after legal disputes with a large bank and payment processors resulted in tens of millions of dollars being frozen.

It looks like it was a pretty dubious business to start with. Not the sort of outfit you trust with money.

[engine]

That's no small sum to have locked up.

It's a useful reminder to us all, no matter what age.