QuadrigaCX owes creditors $160 million but has just $21 million in confirmed, accessible assets - Report

An Ernst and Young (EY) report, dated May 1, has concluded that QuadrigaCX, the now-defunct Canadian crypto exchange, has just $21 million in assets, but owes creditors $160 million. The exchange collapsed after its CEO died, leaving thousands who had stored their crypto on it without access to their funds. 

The report says the affected users' legal representative had presented claims for 76,319 creditors, down from initial estimates of 115,000. The representative also presented the $214,618,928 CAD figure being used to calculate liabilities (plus her legal fees). However, there are just $21 million in available assets; made up of 103 bitcoin accidentally transferred from a hot wallet, and another $500,000 in cryptocurrency recovered from "various other sources.” The report noted that an additional estimated $12 million CAD (~$9 million USD) could be recovered from the dead CEO's estate, but accessing these funds is still subject to a court order.  It also highlighted that QuadrigaCX is affiliated with three bankrupt entities and a summary of their total set of assets and liabilities.

EY has not been able to access the cold wallet addresses supplied and the report did provide an update on locating the missing crypto.

EY's report also commented on the exchange's poor bookkeeping and poor cooperation, adding that “there is a material discrepancy between the reported fiat and cryptocurrency obligations." They added that “a complete and fulsome review of Quadriga’s financial affairs will take considerable time and effort to pursue and may not be possible or cost effective to complete."

About Author

Isabel is The Block's London and European reporter. She previously reported for Reuters in Madrid and London, following on from her time as a freelance journalist for the Guardian and the New York Times. She has a Bachelors in War Studies from King’s College London and a Master of Philosophy from the University of Oxford. Conflict of Interest: Edward Woodford, the CEO of SeedCX, is Isabel's brother. She does not report on any issues related to Seed or advise other authors in any regard.