Sleuths Scour for Frozen Quadriga Coins in Latest Crypto Drama

The death of a crypto executive trapped C$190 million on a Canadian exchange. Or did it?

Ever since Quadriga CX revealed in January that founder Gerald Cotten, who died in India in December, was the only person able to access the exchange’s digital ledgers, scores of blockchain analysts, research companies and amateur sleuths have been arguing over whether some of the money has been moving between accounts since he died and even if the coins existed at all.

Cotten’s widow set off the firestorm by seeking protection from creditors for the Vancouver-based company, saying that her late husband was “very ...