Canada investigates QuadrigaCX co-founder Michael Patryn’s sources of wealth

The province of British Columbia in Canada is trying to force Michael Patryn, co-founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX, to explain how he obtained hoarded cash, 45 gold bars, and jewelry including diamond-studded Rolex watches. An official investigation in 2020 concluded that the exchange's collapse was the result of fraud by another co-founder, Gerry Cotten, who died unexpectedly during his honeymoon in India in 2018. The investigation stated that there was evidence that Patryn had no association with QuadrigaCX after 2016, and that most of the customer funds were deposited into the exchange and then lost. Wednesday's filing cited chat records between Cotten and Patryn obtained by investigators in 2014 and 2015, in which they appeared to discuss stealing customer funds and having Patryn publicly withdraw from the exchange while still privately participating.