QuadrigaCX
CollapsedExchange · born 2013 · ✝ 2019
The CEO died — and took the only keys with him.
Canada's largest crypto exchange. After its founder's sudden death, ~$190M in customer funds were allegedly locked in inaccessible cold wallets.
- Peak
- $190M customer funds
- Cause
- Collapsed
- Year of death
- 2019
☠️ Cause of death
Single-person key control and, per investigations, missing funds and Ponzi-like operation. The 'lost keys' obscured prior misuse.
📓 Lessons left behind
- —Single points of failure include people.
- —Use multi-sig / threshold custody, never one human.
- —Operational opacity hides insolvency.
🌱 The idea that survived
Multi-sig & threshold custody
No single key, no single person — m-of-n signing makes 'the founder had the only password' impossible by design.
#lost-keys#single-point-of-failure#custody