$147 Million dollars in Bitcoin lost forever?
Quadriga A Canadian Crypto Exchange Goes Bust.
So this week I sold the majority of my crypto holdings on Quadriga. My coins had been spread out amongst a few different wallets and I decided the funds could be used in a more meaningful way.
The only thing I held back was a couple of bitcoins on my Ledger in case one day they go to the moon, but I think it is going to be years until crypto will realize it’s full potential so they may be there a while.
In the meantime, my capital can be used in better ways…
So on January 26, I sent a bunch of coins to Quadriga in Canada, an exchange I had used a lot in 2017 with no problems. Liquidating the coins only took a couple of minutes and I made my withdrawal request…
Yesterday a friend of the family emailed us to say that this Quadriga has just filed for bankruptcy due to liquidity issues.
Shit.
I just checked my bank account and the funds have not been received and I have a feeling they are not coming, not until things have gone through the courts at least.
So much for a better use of capital…
A quick search online shows that the Founder and CEO died a month ago while travelling in India. Unbenounced to the public he was the only person who had access to the exchanges cold wallet that held the majority of their funds.
I guess it was common practice for the Founder of Quadriga to regularly take the capital that was controlled by the exchange and move it to a cold wallet to protect it against hackers and thieves.
We are not sure at this point how much of the $147 Million USD reserves were held in cold storage by Quadriga but it is likely lost forever.
I wrote about the dangers of exchanges extensively in my book Expat Secrets, and now I have the fun experience of living through it myself first hand…
I guess the really annoying thing for me though is that my crypto had sat in cold storage safe and sound for nearly 2 years and the week I transferred them out to an exchange to be liquidated is the week the exchange goes bankrupt.
Pretty crappy timing eh?
I guess the only saving grace is I hold the majority of my wealth in physical assets like Gold & Silver which I talk a lot about here or in real estate overseas.
Glad at least I follow my own advice and my eggs are not all in one basket…
Always Remember, Endeavour to Greatness
Mikkel Thorup
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About The Host, Mikkel Thorup
Mikkel Thorup; the host of The Expat Money Show, has 20+ years in continual travel around the world, visiting more than 100 countries including Colombia, North Korea, Zimbabwe and Iran.
His goal now is to help Expats just like you to generate additional streams of income, eliminate your tax bill, and take advantage of offshore structures so you can travel the world freely and never have to worry about money again.
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