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Beleaguered Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX inadvertently moved almost $500,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) to its cold wallets earlier this month.
This development is according to a report published by Ernst & Young on February 12.
The founder of QuadrigaCX, 30-year-old Gerald Cotten, passed away in December 2018. The exchange has not been able to access its cold wallets since then, as Cotten was the only person responsible for the wallets and their keys.
Majority of Quadriga’s assets were lost in the missing cold wallets. At the start of the month, it was reported that Quadriga is missing CA$190 million dollars ($145 million) in digital assets.
The exchange initially appointed “Big Four” audit firm Ernst & Young as an independent third party to oversee the proceedings in a creditor protection case. The recently released report which is called “First Report of the Monitor” seeks to provide the court with an update with respect of the proceedings, claiming:
“On February 6, 2019, Quadriga inadvertently transferred 103 bitcoins valued at approximately $468,675 to Quadriga cold wallets which the Company is currently unable to access. The Monitor is working with Management to retrieve this cryptocurrency from the various cold wallets, if possible.”
Over the course of the audit, Ernst & Young got a number of Quadriga electronic devices — supposedly owned or used by Cotten — including four laptops, four cell phones, and three fully encrypted USB keys. The document also claimed that the devices are in a safety deposit box rented by Ernst & Young.