QuadrigaCX
A Canadian exchange that collapsed in 2019 after the reported death of CEO Gerald Cotten. An Ontario Securities Commission review concluded it operated like a Ponzi scheme, with a ~$169M (CAD) shortfall driven by Cotten's hidden trading losses.
Also known as: QuadrigaCX, Quadriga, Gerald Cotten
Summary
QuadrigaCX was, at the time of its 2019 collapse, reportedly Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange. It ceased operations after announcing that CEO Gerald Cotten had died in December 2018. An Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) review concluded the collapse "resulted from a fraud committed by" Cotten and that Quadriga "operated like a Ponzi scheme". [1][2]
What the regulator found
The OSC found that of about CA$215 million owed to roughly 76,000 clients, only about CA$46 million was recovered, leaving a shortfall of approximately CA$169 million. [1] It attributed the bulk — roughly CA$115 million — to Cotten's trading losses using fictitious accounts under aliases, with further amounts lost to external trading and personal misappropriation. [1]
Note
Initial public attention focused on the claim that client crypto was locked in cold wallets only Cotten could access; the OSC found this did not explain the shortfall. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Sources (2)
- QuadrigaCX: A Review by Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission — Ontario Securities Commission
- Quadriga (company) — overview — Wikipedia
See also
Gala Games exploitTokensOn May 20, 2024 an attacker abused a privileged minter account on the GALA token contract to mint 5 billion GALA (≈$200M+ nominal) and dumped ~600M of them for ~$22M of ETH before Gala froze the address. Gala Games called it an internal access-control failure; the attacker later returned the ~$22M.
HEX / PulseChain (Richard Heart)ProjectsCrypto projects (HEX, PulseChain, PulseX) created by Richard Heart (Richard Schueler). In July 2023 the U.S. SEC sued him for offering unregistered securities that raised $1B+ and for allegedly misappropriating ~$12M for luxury goods (including a 555-carat diamond). A court dismissed the case in 2024 for lack of U.S. jurisdiction; there was no finding of wrongdoing and Heart denies the allegations.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.
