Failed crypto exchange QuadrigaCX wallets move funds for first time in three years
Multiple Bitcoin wallets associated with defunct Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX have transferred funds after a three-year dormancy period.
Self-Proclaimed Code Detective ZachXBT report Cash movements today. The address in question was Friday December 16th and he moved the funds on Saturday December 17th.
ZachXBT estimates that 104 BTC ($1.7 million) was moved. Of that amount, 69 BTC ($1.1 million) was transferred to Wasabi, a Bitcoin wallet with coin mixing service.
Bitcoin addresses to which funds have been transferred include:
- 1ECUQLuioJbFZAQchcZq9pggd4EwcpuANe
- 1J9Fqc3TicNoy1Y7tgmhQznWrP5AVLXj9R
- 1MhgmGaHwLAvvKVyFvy6zy9pRQFXaxwE9M
- 1HyYMMCdCcHnfjwMW2jE4cv9qVkVDFUzVa
- 1JPtxSGoekZfLQeYAWkbhBhkr2VEDADHZB
The above four addresses have not moved funds since February 2019, close to the time of QuadrigaCX’s bankruptcy proceedings and request for creditor protection. One address moved funds significantly in August 2020.
The address above was originally linked to QuadrigaCX in 2019. Around that time, QuadrigaCX’s bankruptcy trustees, Ernst and Young, accidentally sent him 103 BTC to his QuadrigaCX address, which was inaccessible. That fact was publicly disclosed, and the cryptocurrency community quickly identified which address made the transaction, and he also identified four related addresses that supposedly belonged to QuadrigaCX.
QuadrigaCX Bankruptcy Commission told CoinDesk Today, Ernst and Young did not move affected balances this weekend, and inspectors said they were “aware that Quadriga funds had moved.” Ernst and Young have not commented on this matter.
It is still unclear who is responsible for the transfer of funds. QuadrigaCX CEO Gerald Cotten was allegedly responsible for managing the exchange’s private keys, believed to be stored in a safe deposit box at an unknown bank. But Cotton was reported dead in 2018, so he couldn’t move the money.
Anyone with a copy of the key or knowledge of the box could have transferred the funds. Many skeptics also claim that Cotten faked his death, raising the remote possibility that Cotten was responsible for this weekend’s money transfer.
