--- title: "They Might Dig Up Body of Bitcoin CEO to See If He’s Really Dead" description: "A team of legal representatives of those whose money disappeared with bitcoin CEO Gerald Cotten's death have sent a letter seeking an exhumation." date: "2019-12-16" modified: "2019-12-16" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/dig-up-body-bitcoin-ceo-dead" categories: - "Bitcoin" - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "bitcoin" - "cryptocurrency" - "quadrigacx" - "the digest" --- # They Might Dig Up Body of Bitcoin CEO to See If He’s Really Dead ![A team of legal representatives of those whose money disappeared with bitcoin CEO Gerald Cotten's death have sent a letter seeking an exhumation.]() *\Image: Shutterstock/Victor Tangermann\* ## Crypto Exhumation 30-year-old CEO of Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX Gerald Cotten passed away in late 2018 — taking to the grave the passwords to crypto holdings worth about $137 million and which belonged to 115,000 QuadrigaCX users. The incident sparked numerous conspiracy theories: did the CEO [fake his own death]() and run with the money? Now, it looks like the flap could lead to digging up Cotten's corpse to check whether he's *really* dead. ## The Mounties According to an alarming [70-page report]() in June by a court-appointed Canadian bankruptcy monitor, Cotten [funneled client money]() into fake accounts, his own accounts, and accounts belonging to his wife. Now, a team of legal representatives of those whose money disappeared with Cotten's death have [sent a letter]() to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police seeking an exhumation and post-mortem autopsy "to confirm both its identity and the cause of death," the [*BBC* reports](). ## In Tatters After the June report, the proceedings "further highlight the need for certainty around the question of whether Mr Cotten is in fact deceased," the letter reads, as quoted by the *BBC*. The situation was a huge mess even before Cotten's death. The June report noted that investigators couldn't find any of QuadrigaCX’s financial records for the past several years, writing that "Quadriga appears not to have maintained a general ledger or traditional accounting records since at least 2016." **READ MORE:** [Quadriga: Lawyers for users of bankrupt crypto firm seek exhumation of founder]() \[*BBC*\] **More on QuadrigaCX:** *[Crypto CEO Funneled Client Money Into Fake Accounts Before Death]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()