In what seems weird like one of those fairy tale quests where a secret treasure hoard is lost and/or guarded by wizards who ask questions each more fiendish than the last, there is a vault of $US262 million where the only password is held by a person who has rather inconveniently left this mortal realm.
And thus the owners of said vault, Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX, have said soz to the people whose money is locked within, adding that it’s impossible to access.
The passkey for the vault was reportedly held by the fund’s owner, Gerard Cotton, who died suddenly “due to complications with Crohn’s disease on December 9, 2018 while travelling in India, where he was opening an orphanage to provide a home and safe refuge for children in need.”
His widow Jennifer Robinson has told a Nova Scotia court that she can’t access the vault and that the money in “cold storage” is therefore lost forever, or at least until a sorcerer shows up.
Probably this guy.
If that all sounds a little bit like a thriller plot where a beleaguered CEO fakes their disappearance in order to quietly access a huge money pile, then you’re not alone.
For one thing, it’s very, very odd that a fund would not have multiple signatories. That seems like a basic don’t-lose-all-the-money strategy, surely? For all the criticisms levelled in the Banking Royal Commission report, no-one suggested that Ron Commonwealth was the only person that knew his bank’s log in.
The fact that the fund has assets frozen after being investigated for suspicious transfers last year helps bolster this impression, with CNN reporting evidence that wallets associated with QuadrigaCX have apparently been “on the move” since the announcement.
Like this.
That said, Robinson has provided a death certificate which suggests that the bit about Cotton is correct… maybe?
In any case: if it does turn out to be an elaborate exit scam then they’ll make plenty back on selling the inevitable film rights.