QuadrigaCX Co-Founder’s $1M Cash & Gold Seized in British Columbia Crackdown

Authorities just clawed back a million-dollar stash from the ashes of Canada's most infamous crypto collapse.

The Ghost in the Machine

Forget complex blockchain forensics—this haul was old-school. Provincial investigators uncovered a physical trove: cold, hard cash and gleaming gold bars, all tied to the co-founder of the defunct QuadrigaCX exchange. It's a tangible reminder that when digital empires fall, the fallout is often very, real world.

A Trail of Tangible Assets

The seizure bypasses the encrypted wallets and lost keys that made Quadriga's saga a techno-mystery. Instead, it follows a paper trail to physical valuables—assets you can literally hold. This move cuts through the crypto anonymity narrative, proving that traditional finance investigations can still land a punch, even in a web3 world. It's a wake-up call for anyone who thinks their tracks are fully covered by a layer of cryptography.

Regulation Casts a Long Shadow

This isn't just about cleaning up a past mess; it's a signal. Global watchdogs are no longer just watching. They're actively seizing, with a focus on the human operators behind the digital facades. The message is clear: accountability is being enforced, one asset seizure at a time—a process that, ironically, often relies on the very traditional banking systems crypto sought to disrupt.

The takeaway? The industry's wild west days are fading into a new era of enforcement. While the tech evolves at light speed, the long arm of the law still knows how to follow the money—especially when it's been converted into something you can stuff in a safe. A cynical finance jab? Sometimes the most secure vault is the one owned by the government.

Gold Bars, Rolexes and a .45 Pistol Found in Patryn’s Safety Deposit Box

Court filings show the seized items were discovered in a CIBC safety deposit box in Vancouver in 2021, including three one-kilogram gold bars and 42 smaller bars.

Officers also recovered Rolex and Chanel watches, rings, jewelry, identification documents, and even a Ruger 1911 .45-caliber pistol with loaded magazines.

At current prices, the gold alone is valued at more than $800,000.

The civil forfeiture office alleged the assets were purchased using QuadrigaCX customer funds, money that investigators say was misappropriated during the years leading up to the exchange’s infamous collapse.

QUADRIGACX CO-FOUNDER FACES UNEXPLAINED WEALTH COURT ORDER

Michael Patryn, co-founder of QuadrigaCX and known as "Sifu" in the DeFi community, is facing a new court order in British Columbia which requires him to explain how he acquired his assets.

QuadrigaCX collapsed in… pic.twitter.com/3N6mEkYfjp

The unexplained wealth order required Patryn to demonstrate legitimate sources for the assets, but while he initially challenged the investigation on constitutional grounds, he ultimately withdrew his response and did not appear when the province sought judgment.

QuadrigaCX, once Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, imploded in 2019 after CEO Gerald Cotten died in India and it emerged that more than $169 million in customer assets were missing.

Regulators later concluded that the platform had effectively become a Ponzi scheme by 2016, with new deposits used to fulfill withdrawal requests while Cotten allegedly siphoned funds to finance personal expenses.

Patryn’s Criminal Past Resurfaces in QuadrigaCX Forfeiture Case

Investigators have long alleged that Patryn, also known by several aliases including Omar Dhanani, played a central role in the exchange’s operations and benefited from client funds.

His criminal history was cited in the forfeiture filings. In 2005, under the name Omar Dhanani, he was convicted in the US for operating an online identity-theft and money-laundering service and later deported to Canada.

The province’s win now triggers a separate review to determine whether any of the recovered assets can be directed to compensate QuadrigaCX creditors.

Claimants received just 13 cents on the dollar when bankruptcy proceedings concluded in May 2023.

Patryn’s current whereabouts remain uncertain, though the civil forfeiture suit lists his last known location as Thailand.

In 2023, QuadrigaCX announced plans to start the “interim distribution” of funds to creditors, despite only a fraction of the missing funds being recovered.