CANADA : ''CRYPTO'S -INVESTORS- STUNNED''

A CANADIAN cryptocurrency exchange said it could not repay at almost $200 million to clients after its chief executive died suddenly while visiting India.

The company Quadriga CX, said in court filings that the chief executive, Gerald W.Cotten, was the only person who knew the security keys and passwords needed to gain access to the funds.

The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has approved the company's request for protection against creditors for 30 days and the appointment of the accounting firm Ernst & Young to sort out Quadriga's finances and explore a possible sale.

The company's inability to release its clients' money has created an uproar among angry - and highly suspicious - investors.

Mr. Cottem, a co-founder of the company in 2013, died of complications from Crohn's disease while travelling to open an orphanage. Quadriga said in an announcement posted on Facebook on Jan 14. The note said that Mr. Cotton, 30, had died on Dec 9.

In an affidavit, his widow, Jennifer K.M. Robertson, wrote that her husband had run the business from an encrypted laptop, working mostly out of their home in Fall River, Nova Scotia.

Ms. Roberson did not know the password or recovery key and could not find them written down anywhere ''despite repeated and diligent searches,'' she wrote.

Ms. Robertson also said she had also hired an expert to find the cryptcurrency in cold wallets'' stored offline, with little success.

While other crypto-exchanges have lost their clients money, this appears to be the first one that has said it lost the keys to its accounts.

Quadriga's platform went offline on Jan 28, and frustrated investors have taken to Reddit and Twitter to discuss their investigations into the company's claims and potential lawsuits.

Some questioned whether Mr. Cotton had indeed died - or whether, perhaps he had faked his death to pull off which is known as an ''exit scam''.

The operational research continues. And the World Students Society will next publish the final part of the continuing story. The World students Society thanks author and researcher Karen Zraick.