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Investigation of QuadrigaCX cryptocurrency debacle turns up $28 million in assets

Click to play video: 'QuadrigaCX CEO’s friend offers insight into cryptocurrency mystery'
QuadrigaCX CEO’s friend offers insight into cryptocurrency mystery
WATCH: The sudden death of QuadrigaCX CEO Gerald Cotten has left $250 million worth of cryptocurrency inaccessible after he failed to share the password – Apr 18, 2019

The accounting firm trying to recover more than $200 million owed to users of the now-defunct QuadrigaCX cryptocurrency platform has turned up only $28 million in assets – virtually all of it in cash.

Ernst and Young, which is overseeing bankruptcy proceedings, has issued a preliminary report saying it may not be possible to complete a full review of QuadrigaCX’s finances, given the poor state of the company’s bookkeeping.

READ MORE: Nova Scotia judge briefly extends creditor protection for Quadriga exchange

The report says the investigation has also been hampered by a lack of co-operation from some of QuadrigaCX’s business partners and the sheer volume of transactions under scrutiny, which number in the millions.

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The accounting firm says that as of last month, QuadrigaCX and its associated holding companies owed 76,000 creditors a total of $215.7 million.

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The online exchange offered an unregulated platform for users to store and trade digital assets like Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum.

WATCH: Creditor protection extended for cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX (March 5) 

Click to play video: 'Creditor protection extended for cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga'
Creditor protection extended for cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga

Vancouver-based QuadrigaCX was shut down in January after its founder and sole director, 30-year-old Gerald Cotten of Fall River, N.S., died Dec. 9 while travelling in India.

The entire enterprise was thrown into a tailspin when it was revealed Cotten was the only person who knew the passwords to gain access to the company’s offline cryptocurrency reserves.

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