TORONTO ¨C Digital-asset exchange Quadriga CX has a $200 million problem with no obvious solution ¡ª just the latest cautionary tale in the unregulated world of cryptocurrencies.
The online startup can¡¯t retrieve about 190 million Canadian dollars ($145 million) in bitcoin, Litecoin, Ether and other digital tokens held for its customers, according to court documents filed Jan. 31 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Nor can Vancouver-based Quadriga CX pay the CA$70 million in cash they¡¯re owed.
Access to Quadriga CX¡¯s digital ¡°wallets¡± ¡ª an application that stores the keys to send and receive cryptocurrencies ¡ª appears to have been lost with the passing of Quadriga CX Chief Executive Officer Gerald Cotten, who died Dec. 9 in India from complications of Crohn¡¯s disease. He was 30.
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