#quadriga cx news

[newsworld123]

Creditors to Get 13% per Dollar   – Bitcoin News

EY, the global accounting and professional services organization, released a long-awaited update on Friday for the creditors of Quadriga CX. The Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, which had sought bankruptcy protection in 2019 with liabilities of C$215.7 million and assets totaling around C$28 million, had left its creditors in a state of uncertainty. In the latest notice from EY, it was revealed…

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Crypto CEO dies with the password to unlock $200+ million of customers' Bitcoin

"After Gerry’s death, Quadriga’s inventory of cryptocurrency has become unavailable and some of it may be lost," said his widow.

The chief executive of cryptocurrency company Quadriga CX has died, and he's apparently the only one with the ability to unlock all his customers' coins.

Without their digital keys, his clients lose access to their funds. The company's board of directors said last week it is seeking creditor protection.

More from Bloomberg News on digital-asset exchange Quadriga CX's $200 million problem with no solution in sight:

https://boingboing.net/2019/02/04/crypto-ceo-dies-with-the-passw.html

[cryptooof-blog]

https://cryptooof.com/crypto-firm-had-worked-with-quadriga-cited-in-bitfinex/

The founder of Quadriga CX, Gerry Cotten had dealing with Crypto Capital Corp cited in a court order obtained by New York’s attorney general.

[doge-bybit-crypto]

Bitcoin Exchange CEO Dies and Lost 170 Billion

The ‘Quadriga CX’ exchange, which started in 2013, enjoys its greatest boom at the end of 2017 when the Bitcoin price soared. It's believable to see him give great presentations at broadcast interviews and conferences. At this time, Bitcoin was approaching $20,000 in US dollars.

About a year ago, in the fall of 2018. Tong Joo, who lives in San Francisco, USA, appears. His eyes looked anxious, and dark circles under his eyes were full. Sad predictions are never wrong. That's right. Tong Zhou put all of his fortune on the ‘Quad Li CX’ exchange. He was worth $400,000 worth of bitcoins. He tried to withdraw in Canadian dollars, but there was no response from the exchange.

At this point, news is delivered. In December 2018, the CEO of the exchange, Gerald Cotton, died suddenly. Due to the nature of virtual currency, you must have a password to access the virtual currency ‘wallet’ (cold wallet) to return money to investors. This means that the CEO alone knows the password of the exchange. The investment of 110,000 people was 190 million Canadian dollars (170 billion won at the time) floating in the air.

Bybit Exchange Fee Discount

But looking at him, his death is suspicious. He and his wife Jennifer Robertson died suddenly from complications of Crohn's disease while traveling to India. The place where a 30-year-old businessman died unexpectedly is a Crohn's disease-related disease with a low mortality rate. When this news was announced, it was about two weeks after the actual date of death.

Investors flocked through Telegram. He suspects his death and agrees that he must be alive somewhere. He added to his suspicions, saying he might be swimming somewhere in a tax haven after taking money and having plastic surgery.

[cryptoandblockchaintalk]

What "currency" backs the stablecoin, Tether? A) Seashells 2) Rai Stones 3) USD 4) No One Knows! #146

As we know in life, things are never what they seem. Rarely do we really, truly take the time to explore what the reasons behind these "things" are, and sometimes we may never get the answers - and they remain mysteries.

Well, we LOVE a good mystery at Crypto and Blockchain Talk and unfortunately, the crypto space is full of them (Quadriga CX comes to mind, as well as OneCoin - and podcasts about them are found in our podcast library). In the cases of Visa, Tether, and Coinbase, these mysteries can be pinned down to everything from misleading PR and social media posts, to outright, possibly felonious, tomfoolery.

Join the host of Crypto and Blockchain Talk, Aviva Õunap, as she looks into three mysteries with her Dr. Watson, Ben Jessel of Forbes, and they ponder, when will these companies realize that the people of blockchain and crypto just want honesty and truth?

Tune in to CryptoAndBlockchainTalk.com, the podcast that makes you smarter about the worlds of blockchain and cryptocurrency, and everything in between. It is our mission to interview the brightest stars in this space, bringing them straight to your ears for your listening pleasure, and best of all, for free!

In addition, all interviews are streamed on Crypto24Radio.com, bringing you the latest news on all things blockchain and crypto-related all day, every day - plus music!

So stay tuned and enjoy.

We LOVE having you as our listener, and friend!

SUBSCRIBE to our social channels and never miss an episode: SPOTIFY   iTunes   Stitcher   Soundcloud   Google Play Music   Tunein   Castbox   Podchaser   Pocket Casts   Overcast   iHeartRadio   PlayerFM   YouTube   Acast   Podnews   Castbox   Poddtoppen   Feedspot   Kimcoin   PodBean   Chartable  LISTEN NOTES  PodParadise Bullhorn amazon music vurbl SamsungFREE

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Disclaimer: NO FINANCIAL ADVICE The information on this channel/website is provided for education and informational purposes only, without any express or implied warranty of any kind, including warranties of accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose. The information contained in or provided from or through this channel is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, investment advice, trading advice, or any other advice. The information on this channel/website and provided from or through this channel/website is general in nature and is not specific to you, the user, or anyone else. This channel/website not a substitute for financial advice from a professional who is aware of the factual circumstances of your individual situation. You should not make any decision, financial, investment, trading, or otherwise, based on any of the information presented on this channel/website without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with a professional broker or financial advisor.

Check out this episode!

[mitchipedia]

Unable to Retrieve Money, Cryptocurrency Investors Want Dead Executive Exhumed [The New York Times] When Gerald W. Cotten, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga CX, died last year, investors found themselves unable to access at least $250 million in their accounts. Now they want the body exhumed to be sure it’s really Cotten — that he didn’t fake his own death and make off with the money.

mitchwagner.blog

[chloe-jayde]

Ex-NFL Owner Is Said to Have Ties to $850 Million Crypto Mystery

New Post has been published on https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/ex-nfl-owner-is-said-to-have-ties-to-850-million-crypto-mystery

Ex-NFL Owner Is Said to Have Ties to $850 Million Crypto Mystery

3/3

&copy Bloomberg. Reginald Fowler Photographer: Mark Brettingen/Getty Images 2/3

(Bloomberg) — When New York’s attorney general last week accused Bitfinex — one of the world’s largest crytocurrency exchanges — of hiding the loss of about $850 million in client and corporate cash, a crucial question was left unanswered: What happened to the money?

Bitfinex contends the funds haven’t gone missing at all. The exchange says the money was deposited with a Panamanian-company called Crypto Capital Corp. and then, through no fault of Bitfinex’s, seized by government authorities in the U.S., Poland and Portugal.

The wild story took another turn April 30 when federal prosecutors announced a grand jury had indicted Reginald Fowler, a 60-year-old Arizona businessman who once had a small stake in the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. Fowler, along with an Israeli woman named Ravid Yosef, was accused of running an unlicensed money transmitting operation tied to virtual currency trading.

Fowler and a firm identified in the indictment, Global Trading Solutions LLC, have direct ties to Crypto Capital, according to people familiar with the matter. And the indictment notes that money in bank accounts opened by Fowler and Global Trading Solutions has been seized.

U.S. prosecutors, who want Fowler detained so that he doesn’t try to flee the country, said interviews conducted during their investigation have “corroborated in part” that companies affiliated with him may have failed to return $851 million to an unnamed client, according to a May 1 court filing.

Fowler’s attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment and Yosef couldn’t be reached for comment. Crypto Capital didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

How Bitfinex and Crypto Capital got involved with each other is laid out in an April 26 lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. She alleged that because Bitfinex was unable to access about $850 million in client and corporate funds, it arranged for a loan from Tether Ltd., which is controlled by the same group of executives as Bitfinex. James didn’t bring a case against Crypto Capital.

‘Bad Faith’

Bitfinex, in an April 26 statement, said James’ suit was written in “bad faith and riddled with false assertions.” An email sent to the general counsel of Bitfinex and Tether wasn’t returned.

The attorney general’s case is notable because many traders consider Tether coins, which can be bought and sold on Bitfinex, to be critical to the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Tether is widely used to bet on price moves for other tokens and traders rely on it as a substitute for fiat currency, based on Tether Ltd.’s historical claims that each token is backed by $1 of assets. Though, Tether Ltd. said earlier this week that is no longer the case and that its reserves equal 74 percent of outstanding coins.

Tether has long faced regulatory scrutiny. The Justice Department has been probing whether traders used the coins to illegally move prices and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been investigating whether Tether’s backers actually had a stockpile of cash to support the currency, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials from both agencies have also been looking into the issues raised by the New York attorney general, one of the people said.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, while a CFTC spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

No Banks

The events that triggered the New York attorney general’s suit date back to 2017 when banks stopped doing business with Bitfinex because they didn’t want to be associated with unregulated cryptocurrency trading. So Bitfinex entrusted more than $1 billion in co-mingled client and corporate deposits to Crypto Capital, according to James’ suit.

By late 2018, Bitfinex grew concerned that Crypto Capital might not return its funds, the attorney general said. That’s why Bitfinex engaged in a series of transactions to obtain up to $900 million from Tether Ltd. to cover up the potential losses, James alleges.

The company identified in Fowler’s indictment as holding bank accounts, Global Trading Solutions, is affiliated with another firm named Global Trade Solutions AG, said the people who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to discuss the case publicly. Crypto Capital’s website shows it is owned and operated by Global Trade Solutions.

A spokesman for the New York Attorney general’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Personal Accounts

Crypto Capital was also, at least at some point last year, used by crypto exchange Quadriga CX, whose funds have mysteriously disappeared following the death of its founder, Bloomberg reported April 26.

In the Fowler indictment, prosecutors alleged that he moved millions through the U.S. financial system to support virtual currency trading. They also allege that over a two-month period last year he transferred about $60 million dollars from the illicit scheme to his personal bank accounts.

Fowler, of Chandler, Arizona, is better known for his ties to professional football than his involvement with cryptocurrencies. In 2005, he tried to buy the Vikings for $600 million but had to settle for minority ownership when he couldn’t come up with the cash, according to an article by Minneapolis’ Star Tribune. His involvement with the team ended in 2014.

Fowler was also an investor in Alliance of American Football, an upstart professional football league whose inaugural season began in February. The league claimed bankruptcy a few weeks ago after struggling to make payroll. Fowler had committed to be the league’s primary investor but failed to provide needed capital at the end of last year, according to Sports Illustrated.

Read More https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/ex-nfl-owner-is-said-to-have-ties-to-850-million-crypto-mystery

[jettadarkwynd]

Ex-NFL Owner Is Said to Have Ties to $850 Million Crypto Mystery

New Post has been published on https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/ex-nfl-owner-is-said-to-have-ties-to-850-million-crypto-mystery

Ex-NFL Owner Is Said to Have Ties to $850 Million Crypto Mystery

3/3

&copy Bloomberg. Reginald Fowler Photographer: Mark Brettingen/Getty Images 2/3

(Bloomberg) — When New York’s attorney general last week accused Bitfinex — one of the world’s largest crytocurrency exchanges — of hiding the loss of about $850 million in client and corporate cash, a crucial question was left unanswered: What happened to the money?

Bitfinex contends the funds haven’t gone missing at all. The exchange says the money was deposited with a Panamanian-company called Crypto Capital Corp. and then, through no fault of Bitfinex’s, seized by government authorities in the U.S., Poland and Portugal.

The wild story took another turn April 30 when federal prosecutors announced a grand jury had indicted Reginald Fowler, a 60-year-old Arizona businessman who once had a small stake in the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. Fowler, along with an Israeli woman named Ravid Yosef, was accused of running an unlicensed money transmitting operation tied to virtual currency trading.

Fowler and a firm identified in the indictment, Global Trading Solutions LLC, have direct ties to Crypto Capital, according to people familiar with the matter. And the indictment notes that money in bank accounts opened by Fowler and Global Trading Solutions has been seized.

U.S. prosecutors, who want Fowler detained so that he doesn’t try to flee the country, said interviews conducted during their investigation have “corroborated in part” that companies affiliated with him may have failed to return $851 million to an unnamed client, according to a May 1 court filing.

Fowler’s attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment and Yosef couldn’t be reached for comment. Crypto Capital didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

How Bitfinex and Crypto Capital got involved with each other is laid out in an April 26 lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. She alleged that because Bitfinex was unable to access about $850 million in client and corporate funds, it arranged for a loan from Tether Ltd., which is controlled by the same group of executives as Bitfinex. James didn’t bring a case against Crypto Capital.

‘Bad Faith’

Bitfinex, in an April 26 statement, said James’ suit was written in “bad faith and riddled with false assertions.” An email sent to the general counsel of Bitfinex and Tether wasn’t returned.

The attorney general’s case is notable because many traders consider Tether coins, which can be bought and sold on Bitfinex, to be critical to the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Tether is widely used to bet on price moves for other tokens and traders rely on it as a substitute for fiat currency, based on Tether Ltd.’s historical claims that each token is backed by $1 of assets. Though, Tether Ltd. said earlier this week that is no longer the case and that its reserves equal 74 percent of outstanding coins.

Tether has long faced regulatory scrutiny. The Justice Department has been probing whether traders used the coins to illegally move prices and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been investigating whether Tether’s backers actually had a stockpile of cash to support the currency, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials from both agencies have also been looking into the issues raised by the New York attorney general, one of the people said.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, while a CFTC spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

No Banks

The events that triggered the New York attorney general’s suit date back to 2017 when banks stopped doing business with Bitfinex because they didn’t want to be associated with unregulated cryptocurrency trading. So Bitfinex entrusted more than $1 billion in co-mingled client and corporate deposits to Crypto Capital, according to James’ suit.

By late 2018, Bitfinex grew concerned that Crypto Capital might not return its funds, the attorney general said. That’s why Bitfinex engaged in a series of transactions to obtain up to $900 million from Tether Ltd. to cover up the potential losses, James alleges.

The company identified in Fowler’s indictment as holding bank accounts, Global Trading Solutions, is affiliated with another firm named Global Trade Solutions AG, said the people who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to discuss the case publicly. Crypto Capital’s website shows it is owned and operated by Global Trade Solutions.

A spokesman for the New York Attorney general’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Personal Accounts

Crypto Capital was also, at least at some point last year, used by crypto exchange Quadriga CX, whose funds have mysteriously disappeared following the death of its founder, Bloomberg reported April 26.

In the Fowler indictment, prosecutors alleged that he moved millions through the U.S. financial system to support virtual currency trading. They also allege that over a two-month period last year he transferred about $60 million dollars from the illicit scheme to his personal bank accounts.

Fowler, of Chandler, Arizona, is better known for his ties to professional football than his involvement with cryptocurrencies. In 2005, he tried to buy the Vikings for $600 million but had to settle for minority ownership when he couldn’t come up with the cash, according to an article by Minneapolis’ Star Tribune. His involvement with the team ended in 2014.

Fowler was also an investor in Alliance of American Football, an upstart professional football league whose inaugural season began in February. The league claimed bankruptcy a few weeks ago after struggling to make payroll. Fowler had committed to be the league’s primary investor but failed to provide needed capital at the end of last year, according to Sports Illustrated.

Read More https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/ex-nfl-owner-is-said-to-have-ties-to-850-million-crypto-mystery

[cute1dfacts]

Ex-NFL Owner Is Said to Have Ties to $850 Million Crypto Mystery

New Post has been published on https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/ex-nfl-owner-is-said-to-have-ties-to-850-million-crypto-mystery

Ex-NFL Owner Is Said to Have Ties to $850 Million Crypto Mystery

3/3

&copy Bloomberg. Reginald Fowler Photographer: Mark Brettingen/Getty Images 2/3

(Bloomberg) — When New York’s attorney general last week accused Bitfinex — one of the world’s largest crytocurrency exchanges — of hiding the loss of about $850 million in client and corporate cash, a crucial question was left unanswered: What happened to the money?

Bitfinex contends the funds haven’t gone missing at all. The exchange says the money was deposited with a Panamanian-company called Crypto Capital Corp. and then, through no fault of Bitfinex’s, seized by government authorities in the U.S., Poland and Portugal.

The wild story took another turn April 30 when federal prosecutors announced a grand jury had indicted Reginald Fowler, a 60-year-old Arizona businessman who once had a small stake in the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. Fowler, along with an Israeli woman named Ravid Yosef, was accused of running an unlicensed money transmitting operation tied to virtual currency trading.

Fowler and a firm identified in the indictment, Global Trading Solutions LLC, have direct ties to Crypto Capital, according to people familiar with the matter. And the indictment notes that money in bank accounts opened by Fowler and Global Trading Solutions has been seized.

U.S. prosecutors, who want Fowler detained so that he doesn’t try to flee the country, said interviews conducted during their investigation have “corroborated in part” that companies affiliated with him may have failed to return $851 million to an unnamed client, according to a May 1 court filing.

Fowler’s attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment and Yosef couldn’t be reached for comment. Crypto Capital didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

How Bitfinex and Crypto Capital got involved with each other is laid out in an April 26 lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. She alleged that because Bitfinex was unable to access about $850 million in client and corporate funds, it arranged for a loan from Tether Ltd., which is controlled by the same group of executives as Bitfinex. James didn’t bring a case against Crypto Capital.

‘Bad Faith’

Bitfinex, in an April 26 statement, said James’ suit was written in “bad faith and riddled with false assertions.” An email sent to the general counsel of Bitfinex and Tether wasn’t returned.

The attorney general’s case is notable because many traders consider Tether coins, which can be bought and sold on Bitfinex, to be critical to the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Tether is widely used to bet on price moves for other tokens and traders rely on it as a substitute for fiat currency, based on Tether Ltd.’s historical claims that each token is backed by $1 of assets. Though, Tether Ltd. said earlier this week that is no longer the case and that its reserves equal 74 percent of outstanding coins.

Tether has long faced regulatory scrutiny. The Justice Department has been probing whether traders used the coins to illegally move prices and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been investigating whether Tether’s backers actually had a stockpile of cash to support the currency, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials from both agencies have also been looking into the issues raised by the New York attorney general, one of the people said.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, while a CFTC spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

No Banks

The events that triggered the New York attorney general’s suit date back to 2017 when banks stopped doing business with Bitfinex because they didn’t want to be associated with unregulated cryptocurrency trading. So Bitfinex entrusted more than $1 billion in co-mingled client and corporate deposits to Crypto Capital, according to James’ suit.

By late 2018, Bitfinex grew concerned that Crypto Capital might not return its funds, the attorney general said. That’s why Bitfinex engaged in a series of transactions to obtain up to $900 million from Tether Ltd. to cover up the potential losses, James alleges.

The company identified in Fowler’s indictment as holding bank accounts, Global Trading Solutions, is affiliated with another firm named Global Trade Solutions AG, said the people who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to discuss the case publicly. Crypto Capital’s website shows it is owned and operated by Global Trade Solutions.

A spokesman for the New York Attorney general’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Personal Accounts

Crypto Capital was also, at least at some point last year, used by crypto exchange Quadriga CX, whose funds have mysteriously disappeared following the death of its founder, Bloomberg reported April 26.

In the Fowler indictment, prosecutors alleged that he moved millions through the U.S. financial system to support virtual currency trading. They also allege that over a two-month period last year he transferred about $60 million dollars from the illicit scheme to his personal bank accounts.

Fowler, of Chandler, Arizona, is better known for his ties to professional football than his involvement with cryptocurrencies. In 2005, he tried to buy the Vikings for $600 million but had to settle for minority ownership when he couldn’t come up with the cash, according to an article by Minneapolis’ Star Tribune. His involvement with the team ended in 2014.

Fowler was also an investor in Alliance of American Football, an upstart professional football league whose inaugural season began in February. The league claimed bankruptcy a few weeks ago after struggling to make payroll. Fowler had committed to be the league’s primary investor but failed to provide needed capital at the end of last year, according to Sports Illustrated.

Read More https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/ex-nfl-owner-is-said-to-have-ties-to-850-million-crypto-mystery

[breakbit]

Ex-NFL Owner Is Said to Have Ties to $850 Million Crypto Mystery

New Post has been published on https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/ex-nfl-owner-is-said-to-have-ties-to-850-million-crypto-mystery

Ex-NFL Owner Is Said to Have Ties to $850 Million Crypto Mystery

3/3

&copy Bloomberg. Reginald Fowler Photographer: Mark Brettingen/Getty Images 2/3

(Bloomberg) — When New York’s attorney general last week accused Bitfinex — one of the world’s largest crytocurrency exchanges — of hiding the loss of about $850 million in client and corporate cash, a crucial question was left unanswered: What happened to the money?

Bitfinex contends the funds haven’t gone missing at all. The exchange says the money was deposited with a Panamanian-company called Crypto Capital Corp. and then, through no fault of Bitfinex’s, seized by government authorities in the U.S., Poland and Portugal.

The wild story took another turn April 30 when federal prosecutors announced a grand jury had indicted Reginald Fowler, a 60-year-old Arizona businessman who once had a small stake in the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. Fowler, along with an Israeli woman named Ravid Yosef, was accused of running an unlicensed money transmitting operation tied to virtual currency trading.

Fowler and a firm identified in the indictment, Global Trading Solutions LLC, have direct ties to Crypto Capital, according to people familiar with the matter. And the indictment notes that money in bank accounts opened by Fowler and Global Trading Solutions has been seized.

U.S. prosecutors, who want Fowler detained so that he doesn’t try to flee the country, said interviews conducted during their investigation have “corroborated in part” that companies affiliated with him may have failed to return $851 million to an unnamed client, according to a May 1 court filing.

Fowler’s attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment and Yosef couldn’t be reached for comment. Crypto Capital didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

How Bitfinex and Crypto Capital got involved with each other is laid out in an April 26 lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. She alleged that because Bitfinex was unable to access about $850 million in client and corporate funds, it arranged for a loan from Tether Ltd., which is controlled by the same group of executives as Bitfinex. James didn’t bring a case against Crypto Capital.

‘Bad Faith’

Bitfinex, in an April 26 statement, said James’ suit was written in “bad faith and riddled with false assertions.” An email sent to the general counsel of Bitfinex and Tether wasn’t returned.

The attorney general’s case is notable because many traders consider Tether coins, which can be bought and sold on Bitfinex, to be critical to the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Tether is widely used to bet on price moves for other tokens and traders rely on it as a substitute for fiat currency, based on Tether Ltd.’s historical claims that each token is backed by $1 of assets. Though, Tether Ltd. said earlier this week that is no longer the case and that its reserves equal 74 percent of outstanding coins.

Tether has long faced regulatory scrutiny. The Justice Department has been probing whether traders used the coins to illegally move prices and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been investigating whether Tether’s backers actually had a stockpile of cash to support the currency, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials from both agencies have also been looking into the issues raised by the New York attorney general, one of the people said.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, while a CFTC spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

No Banks

The events that triggered the New York attorney general’s suit date back to 2017 when banks stopped doing business with Bitfinex because they didn’t want to be associated with unregulated cryptocurrency trading. So Bitfinex entrusted more than $1 billion in co-mingled client and corporate deposits to Crypto Capital, according to James’ suit.

By late 2018, Bitfinex grew concerned that Crypto Capital might not return its funds, the attorney general said. That’s why Bitfinex engaged in a series of transactions to obtain up to $900 million from Tether Ltd. to cover up the potential losses, James alleges.

The company identified in Fowler’s indictment as holding bank accounts, Global Trading Solutions, is affiliated with another firm named Global Trade Solutions AG, said the people who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to discuss the case publicly. Crypto Capital’s website shows it is owned and operated by Global Trade Solutions.

A spokesman for the New York Attorney general’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Personal Accounts

Crypto Capital was also, at least at some point last year, used by crypto exchange Quadriga CX, whose funds have mysteriously disappeared following the death of its founder, Bloomberg reported April 26.

In the Fowler indictment, prosecutors alleged that he moved millions through the U.S. financial system to support virtual currency trading. They also allege that over a two-month period last year he transferred about $60 million dollars from the illicit scheme to his personal bank accounts.

Fowler, of Chandler, Arizona, is better known for his ties to professional football than his involvement with cryptocurrencies. In 2005, he tried to buy the Vikings for $600 million but had to settle for minority ownership when he couldn’t come up with the cash, according to an article by Minneapolis’ Star Tribune. His involvement with the team ended in 2014.

Fowler was also an investor in Alliance of American Football, an upstart professional football league whose inaugural season began in February. The league claimed bankruptcy a few weeks ago after struggling to make payroll. Fowler had committed to be the league’s primary investor but failed to provide needed capital at the end of last year, according to Sports Illustrated.

Read More https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/ex-nfl-owner-is-said-to-have-ties-to-850-million-crypto-mystery

[taylordmorris]

Ex-NFL Owner Is Said to Have Ties to $850 Million Crypto Mystery

New Post has been published on https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/ex-nfl-owner-is-said-to-have-ties-to-850-million-crypto-mystery

Ex-NFL Owner Is Said to Have Ties to $850 Million Crypto Mystery

3/3

&copy Bloomberg. Reginald Fowler Photographer: Mark Brettingen/Getty Images 2/3

(Bloomberg) — When New York’s attorney general last week accused Bitfinex — one of the world’s largest crytocurrency exchanges — of hiding the loss of about $850 million in client and corporate cash, a crucial question was left unanswered: What happened to the money?

Bitfinex contends the funds haven’t gone missing at all. The exchange says the money was deposited with a Panamanian-company called Crypto Capital Corp. and then, through no fault of Bitfinex’s, seized by government authorities in the U.S., Poland and Portugal.

The wild story took another turn April 30 when federal prosecutors announced a grand jury had indicted Reginald Fowler, a 60-year-old Arizona businessman who once had a small stake in the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. Fowler, along with an Israeli woman named Ravid Yosef, was accused of running an unlicensed money transmitting operation tied to virtual currency trading.

Fowler and a firm identified in the indictment, Global Trading Solutions LLC, have direct ties to Crypto Capital, according to people familiar with the matter. And the indictment notes that money in bank accounts opened by Fowler and Global Trading Solutions has been seized.

U.S. prosecutors, who want Fowler detained so that he doesn’t try to flee the country, said interviews conducted during their investigation have “corroborated in part” that companies affiliated with him may have failed to return $851 million to an unnamed client, according to a May 1 court filing.

Fowler’s attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment and Yosef couldn’t be reached for comment. Crypto Capital didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

How Bitfinex and Crypto Capital got involved with each other is laid out in an April 26 lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. She alleged that because Bitfinex was unable to access about $850 million in client and corporate funds, it arranged for a loan from Tether Ltd., which is controlled by the same group of executives as Bitfinex. James didn’t bring a case against Crypto Capital.

‘Bad Faith’

Bitfinex, in an April 26 statement, said James’ suit was written in “bad faith and riddled with false assertions.” An email sent to the general counsel of Bitfinex and Tether wasn’t returned.

The attorney general’s case is notable because many traders consider Tether coins, which can be bought and sold on Bitfinex, to be critical to the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Tether is widely used to bet on price moves for other tokens and traders rely on it as a substitute for fiat currency, based on Tether Ltd.’s historical claims that each token is backed by $1 of assets. Though, Tether Ltd. said earlier this week that is no longer the case and that its reserves equal 74 percent of outstanding coins.

Tether has long faced regulatory scrutiny. The Justice Department has been probing whether traders used the coins to illegally move prices and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been investigating whether Tether’s backers actually had a stockpile of cash to support the currency, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials from both agencies have also been looking into the issues raised by the New York attorney general, one of the people said.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, while a CFTC spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

No Banks

The events that triggered the New York attorney general’s suit date back to 2017 when banks stopped doing business with Bitfinex because they didn’t want to be associated with unregulated cryptocurrency trading. So Bitfinex entrusted more than $1 billion in co-mingled client and corporate deposits to Crypto Capital, according to James’ suit.

By late 2018, Bitfinex grew concerned that Crypto Capital might not return its funds, the attorney general said. That’s why Bitfinex engaged in a series of transactions to obtain up to $900 million from Tether Ltd. to cover up the potential losses, James alleges.

The company identified in Fowler’s indictment as holding bank accounts, Global Trading Solutions, is affiliated with another firm named Global Trade Solutions AG, said the people who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to discuss the case publicly. Crypto Capital’s website shows it is owned and operated by Global Trade Solutions.

A spokesman for the New York Attorney general’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Personal Accounts

Crypto Capital was also, at least at some point last year, used by crypto exchange Quadriga CX, whose funds have mysteriously disappeared following the death of its founder, Bloomberg reported April 26.

In the Fowler indictment, prosecutors alleged that he moved millions through the U.S. financial system to support virtual currency trading. They also allege that over a two-month period last year he transferred about $60 million dollars from the illicit scheme to his personal bank accounts.

Fowler, of Chandler, Arizona, is better known for his ties to professional football than his involvement with cryptocurrencies. In 2005, he tried to buy the Vikings for $600 million but had to settle for minority ownership when he couldn’t come up with the cash, according to an article by Minneapolis’ Star Tribune. His involvement with the team ended in 2014.

Fowler was also an investor in Alliance of American Football, an upstart professional football league whose inaugural season began in February. The league claimed bankruptcy a few weeks ago after struggling to make payroll. Fowler had committed to be the league’s primary investor but failed to provide needed capital at the end of last year, according to Sports Illustrated.

Read More https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/ex-nfl-owner-is-said-to-have-ties-to-850-million-crypto-mystery

[benmauerberger]

Ex-NFL Owner Is Said to Have Ties to $850 Million Crypto Mystery

New Post has been published on https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/ex-nfl-owner-is-said-to-have-ties-to-850-million-crypto-mystery

Ex-NFL Owner Is Said to Have Ties to $850 Million Crypto Mystery

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&copy Bloomberg. Reginald Fowler Photographer: Mark Brettingen/Getty Images 2/3

(Bloomberg) — When New York’s attorney general last week accused Bitfinex — one of the world’s largest crytocurrency exchanges — of hiding the loss of about $850 million in client and corporate cash, a crucial question was left unanswered: What happened to the money?

Bitfinex contends the funds haven’t gone missing at all. The exchange says the money was deposited with a Panamanian-company called Crypto Capital Corp. and then, through no fault of Bitfinex’s, seized by government authorities in the U.S., Poland and Portugal.

The wild story took another turn April 30 when federal prosecutors announced a grand jury had indicted Reginald Fowler, a 60-year-old Arizona businessman who once had a small stake in the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. Fowler, along with an Israeli woman named Ravid Yosef, was accused of running an unlicensed money transmitting operation tied to virtual currency trading.

Fowler and a firm identified in the indictment, Global Trading Solutions LLC, have direct ties to Crypto Capital, according to people familiar with the matter. And the indictment notes that money in bank accounts opened by Fowler and Global Trading Solutions has been seized.

U.S. prosecutors, who want Fowler detained so that he doesn’t try to flee the country, said interviews conducted during their investigation have “corroborated in part” that companies affiliated with him may have failed to return $851 million to an unnamed client, according to a May 1 court filing.

Fowler’s attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment and Yosef couldn’t be reached for comment. Crypto Capital didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

How Bitfinex and Crypto Capital got involved with each other is laid out in an April 26 lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. She alleged that because Bitfinex was unable to access about $850 million in client and corporate funds, it arranged for a loan from Tether Ltd., which is controlled by the same group of executives as Bitfinex. James didn’t bring a case against Crypto Capital.

‘Bad Faith’

Bitfinex, in an April 26 statement, said James’ suit was written in “bad faith and riddled with false assertions.” An email sent to the general counsel of Bitfinex and Tether wasn’t returned.

The attorney general’s case is notable because many traders consider Tether coins, which can be bought and sold on Bitfinex, to be critical to the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Tether is widely used to bet on price moves for other tokens and traders rely on it as a substitute for fiat currency, based on Tether Ltd.’s historical claims that each token is backed by $1 of assets. Though, Tether Ltd. said earlier this week that is no longer the case and that its reserves equal 74 percent of outstanding coins.

Tether has long faced regulatory scrutiny. The Justice Department has been probing whether traders used the coins to illegally move prices and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been investigating whether Tether’s backers actually had a stockpile of cash to support the currency, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials from both agencies have also been looking into the issues raised by the New York attorney general, one of the people said.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, while a CFTC spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

No Banks

The events that triggered the New York attorney general’s suit date back to 2017 when banks stopped doing business with Bitfinex because they didn’t want to be associated with unregulated cryptocurrency trading. So Bitfinex entrusted more than $1 billion in co-mingled client and corporate deposits to Crypto Capital, according to James’ suit.

By late 2018, Bitfinex grew concerned that Crypto Capital might not return its funds, the attorney general said. That’s why Bitfinex engaged in a series of transactions to obtain up to $900 million from Tether Ltd. to cover up the potential losses, James alleges.

The company identified in Fowler’s indictment as holding bank accounts, Global Trading Solutions, is affiliated with another firm named Global Trade Solutions AG, said the people who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to discuss the case publicly. Crypto Capital’s website shows it is owned and operated by Global Trade Solutions.

A spokesman for the New York Attorney general’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Personal Accounts

Crypto Capital was also, at least at some point last year, used by crypto exchange Quadriga CX, whose funds have mysteriously disappeared following the death of its founder, Bloomberg reported April 26.

In the Fowler indictment, prosecutors alleged that he moved millions through the U.S. financial system to support virtual currency trading. They also allege that over a two-month period last year he transferred about $60 million dollars from the illicit scheme to his personal bank accounts.

Fowler, of Chandler, Arizona, is better known for his ties to professional football than his involvement with cryptocurrencies. In 2005, he tried to buy the Vikings for $600 million but had to settle for minority ownership when he couldn’t come up with the cash, according to an article by Minneapolis’ Star Tribune. His involvement with the team ended in 2014.

Fowler was also an investor in Alliance of American Football, an upstart professional football league whose inaugural season began in February. The league claimed bankruptcy a few weeks ago after struggling to make payroll. Fowler had committed to be the league’s primary investor but failed to provide needed capital at the end of last year, according to Sports Illustrated.

Read More https://worldwide-finance.net/news/commodities-futures-news/ex-nfl-owner-is-said-to-have-ties-to-850-million-crypto-mystery

[coin-river-blog]

In a 2014 appearance on the True Bromance Podcast, Gerry Cotten, the late CEO of embattled Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Quadrigacx, made comments indicating that the exchange was storing customer funds using paper wallets. Cotten also compared losing the private keys for a bitcoin wallet to “burning cash.”

Also Read: Market Cap: A Flawed Ranking System for Valuing Crypto

Cotten Discusses Cryptocurrency Custody During 2014 Podcast

With Gerry Cotten having supposedly comprised the sole individual tasked with managing Quadrigacx’s keys, the roughly $195 million in funds owed to 115,000 of the exchange’s customers has dominated the cryptocurrency news cycle in recent weeks.

While speaking on a podcast published March 12, 2014, Cotten stated that the exchange held its customers’ funds offline using paper wallets. He said: “At Quadrigacx, we’re obviously holding a bunch of bitcoins that belong to other people who have put them onto our exchange. So what we do is we actually store them offline in paper wallets, in our bank’s vault in a safety deposit box, because that’s the best way to keep the coins secure.”

Quadrigacx Keys Might Be Held in Safety Deposit Box

Citing the benefits of paper wallets, Cotten continued: “Essentially we put a bunch of paper wallets into the safety deposit box, remember the addresses of them. So we just send money to them, we don’t need to go back to the bank every time we want to put money into it. We just send money from our Bitcoin app directly to those paper wallets, and keep it safe that way.”

Cotten asserted that the best way to store one’s private key is to ”print it off, store it offline in your safety deposit box, vault, whatever, and then take the public key, which is your address, and use that to send money to it. So that way you can never have your bitcoin stolen, unless someone, like, breaks into the bank, steals your safety deposit box and gets into your private key and so forth.”

Losing Private Key Akin to ‘Burning Cash’

Quadrigacx’s cofounder compared losing the private key to bitcoin wallet to “burning cash,” adding “Even the U.S. government, with the biggest computers in the world, could not retrieve those coins if you’ve lost the private key. It’s impossible to retrieve those.”

What is your opinion on the current Quadrigacx fiasco? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock

At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more.

Tags in this story

2014, box, cotten, custody, CX, deposit, During, Held, keys, N-Featured, private, Quadriga, QuadrigaCX, safety, Storage

Samuel Haig

Samuel Haig is a journalist who has been completely obsessed with bitcoin and cryptocurrency since 2012. Samuel lives in Tasmania, Australia, where he attended the University of Tasmania and majored in Political Science, and Journalism, Media & Communications. Samuel has written about the dialectics of decentralization, and is also a musician and kangaroo riding enthusiast.

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[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/business/quadriga-the-cryptocurrency-exchange-that-lost-135m/

Quadriga: The cryptocurrency exchange that lost $135m

Image copyright Facebook/Quadriga

Image caption Gerald Cotten

When the 30-year-old founder of a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange died suddenly, he took the whereabouts of some C$180m ($135m; £105m) in cryptocurrency to his grave. Now, tens of thousands of Quadriga CX users are wondering if they will ever see their funds again.

In 2014, one of the world’s biggest online cryptocurrency exchanges – MtGox – unexpectedly shut down after losing 850,000 Bitcoins valued at the time at nearly $0.4bn (£0.3bn).

Its meltdown shook investors in the volatile emerging marketplace – but the calamity at the Tokyo-based company proved a boon for a new Canadian online cryptocurrency exchange.

“People like the fact we’re located in Canada and know where their money is going,” Quadriga CX founder Gerald Cotten said at the time.

Some five years later, Cotten’s sudden, untimely death has left thousands of his customers scrambling for information about their own missing funds.

“We don’t know whether or not we’re going to get our money back,” Tong Zou, who says he is owed C$560,000 – his life savings – told the BBC.

“There’s just a lot of uncertainty.”

This month, Quadriga – which had grown to become Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – was granted temporary bankruptcy protection in a Canadian court.

The firm said it had spent the weeks since Cotten’s death trying desperately to “locate and secure our very significant cryptocurrency reserves”.

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption Broken representations of the Bitcoin virtual currency

In court documents, Quadriga says it owes up to 115,000 users an estimated C$250m – about C$70m in hard currency and between C$180m an C$190m in cryptocurrency, based on recent market rates.

It believes – though it’s not certain – that the bulk of those millions in reserves was locked away by Cotten in cold storage, which is an offline safeguard against hacking and theft.

For now, all trading has been suspended on the platform.

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‘Wild West’ Bitcoin ‘should be regulated’

Bernie Doyle, CEO of Refine Labs and head of the Toronto chapter of the Government Blockchain Association, calls what’s happening at Quadriga a “seismic event” in the industry.

The world of digital currency has little regulatory oversight and a history of volatile prices, hacking threats, and minimal consumer protection.

Mr Doyle says this only adds to the nascent sector’s already “checkered history”.

But he says “it’s really unfortunate that the ecosystem takes a hit” amid one firm’s problems.

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption The theft involved the lesser-known IOTA cryptocurrency

What happened at Quadriga?

Court documents filed in late January offer some insight into the company.

Quadriga had no offices, no employees and no bank accounts. It was essentially a one-man band run entirely by Cotten wherever he – and his laptop – happened to be, which was usually his home in Fall River, Nova Scotia.

It used some third-party contractors to handle some of the additional work, including payment processing.

His widow, Jennifer Robertson, says she was not involved in the company until her husband died suddenly on 9 December in India from complications related to Crohn’s disease.

In an affidavit, she says she has searched the couple’s home and other properties for business records related to Quadriga, to no avail. The laptop on which he conducted all the business is encrypted and she doesn’t have the password or recovery key.

An investigator hired to assist in recovering any records had little success.

It was also recently revealed the company somehow inadvertently transferred Bitcoins valued at almost half-a-million dollars into cold storage in early February and now can’t access them.

But Quadriga’s troubles didn’t start with missing coins. The company’s liquidity problems began months earlier.

In January 2018, Canadian bank CIBC froze five accounts containing about C$26m linked to Quadriga’s payment processor in a dispute over the real owners of the funds, an issue that ended up in court.

Image copyright Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Image caption A photo of bank drafts submitted in Quadriga court documents

The company says it also has millions in bank drafts it has been unable to deposit because banks have been unwilling to accept them.

Ms Robertson’s affidavit to the court included photos showing stacks of bank drafts placed on a kitchen stove.

Those banking disputes contributed to a “severe liquidity crunch” at the company, with frustrated users facing delays and difficulties trying to access funds.

Who was Gerald Cotten?

In photos and interviews, Cotten comes across as a clean-cut business school graduate who tended to favour the casual shirts and jeans uniform of a tech entrepreneur.

In a statement, Quadriga called him a “visionary leader” who was in India for the opening an orphanage for children in need when he died.

His friend Alex Salkeld described Cotten as a helpful, easy-going young man keen to contribute to the community of cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

“I don’t think you’ll find anyone willing to say anything bad about him,” he told the BBC.

Mr Salkeld said once a week Vancouver Bitcoin Co-Op members would all head over to the Quadriga’s then-offices “and just talk Bitcoin”.

Like others at the time, he said Cotten saw Bitcoin as a technology with the potential to change the world – a virtual currency free of governments and the banking system.

Mr Salkeld said that since Cotten died, those who knew him have been going back-and-forth over how he could possibly have failed to have a contingency plan in place.

Image copyright Courtesy Alex Salkeld

Image caption Gerald Cotten in 2014 showing Alex Salkeld’s daughters how to use a Bitcoin automatic teller

But amid rampant talk online about possible fraud related to the missing coins, Mr Salkeld said that, to him, “it’s looking like a tragic series of unfortunate events strung together in a really unlucky way”.

Cotten’s last will and testament also gives some hints as to his life and assets.

The document, signed shortly before his ill-fated trip to India, shows he appointed Ms Robertson as executor of the estate and left her the bulk of his property.

It offers some detail into those assets: a Lexus, an airplane – he was an amateur pilot – a sailboat, and real estate in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and British Columbia.

He even planned for the care of his two chihuahuas, Nitro and Gully.

The case against Quadriga

There are many who are suspicious of Quadriga’s story and who doubt claims that Cotten had the only key to reserves valued in the tens of millions of dollars.

Online sleuths and industry experts have analysed the public transaction history of Quadriga wallets – which are used to store, send, and receive cryptocurrency – and have raised the possibility that the cold storage reserves might not exist at all.

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That has led to concern there is more at play than poor business practices and internal company chaos in the wake of Cotten’s death.

Others have wondered whether Cotten faked his own death and that this is all part of an “exit scam” to abscond with the funds.

Amid those rumours, Ms Robertson’s affidavit included a copy of statement of death from a funeral home in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The hospital in Jaipur where Cotten was treated also released a statement detailing the medical interventions he received prior to his death.

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His widow says she has received death threats and “slanderous comments” online since Quadriga publicly announced its troubles.

An independent third party monitor has also been appointed to oversee the court proceedings, and is currently in possession of Cotten’s laptop and other devices.

What happens next?

In an online message to its users, Quadriga said it filed for creditor protection to give it time to ensure the future viability of the company.

It also admitted it is in “the early stages of a long process and [does] not have all the answers right now”.

According to court filings, Quadriga is also investigating whether some of the cryptocurrency could be secured on other exchanges and it said it’s considering selling the platform to cover its debts.

A number of affected users, including Tong Zou, have retained lawyers and are seeking representation in the proceedings.

Meanwhile, Canada’s main securities regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission, has confirmed it looking into Quadriga “given the potential harm to Ontario investors”.

[blockcain-news]

Mystery deepens over dead CEO with $145 million worth <b>crypto</b> passwords

TORONTO: As the mystery deepens around the death of Gerald Cotten, CEO of Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga CX, new details have ... from Google Alert - Crypto http://bit.ly/2WR3AiH via IFTTT