Is Quadriga’s Gerald Cotten Still Alive? The ‘Exit Scam’ Podcast Aims to Answer

Aaron Lammer, author and host of the Exit Scam podcast, recounts the mysterious and controversial death of QuadrigaCX’s founder Gerald Cotton. Show highlights:

• A quick recap of QuadrigaCX
• why Aaron felt compelled to create a series on QuadrigaCX
• how Gerald Cotton, a lifelong Ponzi-addict, came to be the CEO of Canada’s largest crypto exchange
• what Ponzi-schemes Gerald ran before starting Quadriga CX
• why customers trusted QuadrigaCX and what red flags were readily apparent looking back
• the sketchy tactic Gerald used to single-handedly boosted QuadrigaCX’s trading volume by 30% 
• a new wife, empty wallets, a hastily written will, and the circumstances surrounding Gerald’s shocking death
• how Gerald’s dark web background might have prepared him to fake his own death
• what the chances are that Canadian authorities exhume Gerald’s body 
• why Aaron is skeptical Gerald’s widow was “in” on the QuadrigaCX fiasco

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Episode Links

Aaron Lammer

• Co-founder of Longform.org + co-host of Longform Podcast (2010+)

• Treats Media — podcast platform (2018+)

• Exit Scam

• CoinTalk: https://medium.com/s/cointalk 

Podcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/exitscampod 

Episodes: 

1. The Lost Password
   1. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-password/id1565845318?i=1000521095118 
2. The Co-Founder
   1. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-ii-the-co-founder/id1565845318?i=1000521984138 
3. The Ponzi Schemer
   1. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-iii-the-ponzi-schemer/id1565845318?i=1000522885172
4. The Chris Markay Account
   1. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-iv-the-chris-markay-account/id1565845318?i=1000523624957 
5. The Old Friend
   1. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-v-the-old-friend/id1565845318?i=1000524470802
6. The Coffin
   1. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-vi-the-coffin/id1565845318?i=1000525407259 

Quadriga

Deep Dives: 

• CBC News
  • https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/bitcoin-gerald-cotten-quadriga-cx-death 
• Vanity Fair
  • https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/the-strange-tale-of-quadriga-gerald-cotten 
• Amy Castor timeline
  • https://amycastor.com/2019/02/12/how-the-hell-did-we-get-here-a-timeline-of-quadrigacx-events/ 
• Ontario Securities Commission
  • https://www.osc.gov.on.ca/quadrigacxreport/ 

Details

• Ontario Securities Commission deems Quadriga an “old fashioned fraud” + “Ponzi”
  • https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/the-strange-tale-of-quadriga-gerald-cotten
  • https://www.coindesk.com/quadriga-was-a-ponzi-scheme-ontario-securities-regulator-says 
• Crypto officially recognized as property in Canada due to this case
  • https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=728711fd-5d3c-43ea-91b4-efb8c02f4bec
• Fun Reddit stuff
  • Is a Gerald Cotten alive? — a poll:
    • https://www.reddit.com/r/QuadrigaCX/comments/m17kip/is_gerald_cotten_really_dead/
  • Graphic connecting Michael Patryn to Omar Dhanani
    • https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinCA/comments/828dnr/quadrigacx_cofounder_michael_patryn_is_a/ 
• Lawyers publicly request that RCMP exhume Gerald Cotten’s body
  • https://www.coindesk.com/lawyers-ramp-up-pressure-to-exhume-quadriga-ceos-body 
• Report on Gerald Cotten transferring funds into a personal account
  • https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/28259/quadrigacx-co-founder-transferred-user-funds-into-personal-accounts-ey

Source: https://unchainedpodcast.com/is-quadrigas-gerald-cotten-is-still-alive-the-exit-scam-podcast-aims-to-answer/