From Last-Minute Will to Past Banking Problems: What Makes the QuadrigaCX Case Seem So Strange

According to the affidavit filed by Cotten's wife, Jennifer Robertson, she learned from Alex Hanin, the chief website architect of QuadrigaCX's website, and Aaron Mathews, the director of operations at the exchange, that her husband "Took sole responsibility for the handling the funds and coins and the banking and accounting side of the business."

In case of Robertson death, in turn, Cotten's assets would be divided among other family members, CBC reports.

The keys to QuadrigaCX's cold wallets - or any other ways of accessing those funds - aren't mentioned anywhere in the papers - which might be strange, given that Cotten actually thought about his death and filed related documents.

After the news about Cotten's death and QuadrigaCX application for the CCAA broke, community members began tracing the funds and found out that the notorious cold wallets might not exist at all.

Soon after hearing about Cotten's passing, QuadrigaCX users took to social media to argue whether Cotten is actually dead, citing a lack of proof.

Further, according to Times of India, Cotten spent a day at the Fortis Escorts hospital in Jaipur, where he was admitted on Dec. 8, before dying of a "Cardiac arrest." The QuadrigaCX CEO was reportedly accompanied to the hospital by his wife.

Quadriga continued accepting deposits after it knew it couldn't access cold wallets - and had past banking problems.

Several reports indicate that QuadrigaCX continued to accept funds long after Cotten's alleged death on Dec. 9.

While Robertson and QuadrigaCX executives knew about Cotten's death - and therefore acknowledged that they could not access their cold wallets - being on the verge of a liquidity crisis - they continued to accept deposits from customers.

Cotten founded the digital assets exchange back in 2013 along with Michael Patryn, an active member of the Vancouver Bitcoin Co-op, a voluntary association of local cryptocurrency enthusiasts, of which Cotten was a director.