FBI contacts users of crypto exchange QuadrigaCX as investigation ramps up

The FBI has made contact with victims of the QuadrigaCX cryptocurrency exchange saga, a sign that its ongoing investigation is taking shape, CoinDesk reports.

Correspondence published by the outlet reveal that an FBI victim specialist has emailed former QuadrigaCX users, directing them to an online portal they can use to obtain more information.

“As a Victim Specialist with the FBI – Albany, I’m contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime,” Valerie Gauthier wrote one QuadrigaCX user, before confirming that the FBI is on the case.

“The enclosed brochure introduces you to the FBI’s Victim Assistance Program and the types of assistance that may be available to you,” she continued.

The FBI began looking into the Canadian exchange in March last year, some three months after its CEO Gerald Cotten is said to have died in India due to complications related to Crohn’s disease.

According to Vanity Fair, QuadrigaCX was processing nearly $2 billion in trades across 363,000 individual accounts back in 2017, and remained one of Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

Cotten is said to have operated the exchange from his MacBook, and while reports indicate he’d set a “dead man’s switch” that would forward access to the cryptocurrency keys required to handle up to $250 million worth of customer funds still in play, Cotten’s sudden disappearance has left users entirely out-of-pocket.

The circumstances surrounding his death are indeed mysterious, which has led up to four international agencies to investigate the matter.

In December last year, lawyers representing QuadrigaCX users submitted a request to exhume Cotten’s body to confirm he’s actually deceased, as skepticism surrounding the legitimacy of his passing grew.

However grim, it appears no progress has been made to dig up Cotten’s body.

You can read more about the epic and curious QuadrigaCX saga here.