A Death In Cryptoland-logo

A Death In Cryptoland

CBC

When the young CEO of Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange is reported to have died while honeymooning in India, it sets off a cataclysmic chain of events that would leave about 76,000 people out of a quarter of a billion dollars and a trail of conspiracy theories around whether Gerald Cotten is dead or alive. A Death in Cryptoland is an original podcast series about a crypto-tycoon, his secret past, his sudden demise, and an online sleuth’s obsession to unravel the truth behind QuadrigaCX. Hosted by Takara Small. For the best in true crime from CBC, ad-free, visit apple.co/cbctruecrime.

Location:

United States

Description:

When the young CEO of Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange is reported to have died while honeymooning in India, it sets off a cataclysmic chain of events that would leave about 76,000 people out of a quarter of a billion dollars and a trail of conspiracy theories around whether Gerald Cotten is dead or alive. A Death in Cryptoland is an original podcast series about a crypto-tycoon, his secret past, his sudden demise, and an online sleuth’s obsession to unravel the truth behind QuadrigaCX. Hosted by Takara Small. For the best in true crime from CBC, ad-free, visit apple.co/cbctruecrime.

Language:

English


Episodes

A Death In Cryptoland: Introduces: The Pornhub Empire: Understood

3/18/2024
With about 100 million visits per day, Pornhub is one of the biggest websites on the planet. This four-part series pulls back the curtain on the scrappy, Montreal-based startup that revolutionized sex on the internet — and the massive scandal that exposed its dark side. The Pornhub Empire, season 2 of Understood, releases March 11. Hosted by journalist Samantha Cole (How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex). About Understood: Know more, now. From the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, to the rise of Pornhub, Understood is an anthology podcast that takes you out of the daily news cycle and inside the events, people, and cultural moments you want to know more about. Over a handful of episodes, each season unfolds as a story, hosted by a well-connected reporter, and rooted in journalism you can trust. Driven by insight and fueled by curiosity…The stories of our time: Understood. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/QcIHPpZC

Duration:00:27:42

A Death In Cryptoland Introduces: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne?

3/13/2024
Avril Lavigne was a punk pop sensation who topped the charts in the early noughties, and she still performs to sold-out crowds today. But what if the Avril we’ve been following all these years is not the same Avril we fell in love with? What if — as a curious theory claims — Avril was replaced by a look-alike at the height of her fame? In ‘Who Replaced Avril Lavigne’ comedian Joanne McNally searches far and wide — from Avril’s hometown to the underbelly of the internet — to find out if the rumours are true. Along the way, she immerses herself in a mind-bending world of fake celebrity deaths, doppelgangers, conspiracy theories, and downright absurdity. Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Joanne McNally Investigates is produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/9OLKnUk9

Duration:00:33:36

A Death In Cryptoland Introduces: Gay Girl Gone

11/15/2023
Of all the young revolutionaries in Syria during the Arab Spring, Amina is different. An out lesbian in a country where homosexuality is illegal, she bravely documents her life on the blog Gay Girl in Damascus. Her candid posts attract readers from around the world, and soon she has a wide, ardent following. But then a post appears saying Amina has been abducted. Her fans mobilize, desperate to track down and save their fearless heroine. What they find shocks them. Journalist Samira Mohyeddin investigates what actually happened to the infamous Gay Girl in Damascus in this 6-part series. The result is a twisted yarn that spans the globe and challenges our thinking on love, politics and identity in cyberspace. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/Aqrj_bkj

Duration:00:36:33

A Death In Cryptoland Introduces: Bloodlines

11/2/2023
From BBC Sounds and CBC Podcasts. Syria. 2018. ISIS is on the brink of defeat. A toddler disappears in the chaos. In London, his grandad needs answers. Poonam Taneja investigates. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/3foq4PRn

Duration:00:31:06

A Death in Cryptoland Introduces: The Naked Emperor

3/20/2023
Sam Bankman-Fried wasn't like other crypto moguls: he drove a Toyota Corolla, he was an advocate for government regulation, he said he would give billions away to charity. That is, until he lost it all in what has been called “one of history’s greatest-ever destructions of wealth.” Sam Bankman-Fried, aka SBF, had an empire. His cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, and hedge fund, Alameda Research, together were worth billions. Celebrities sang his praises, and politicians took his donations. Then, it all collapsed – almost overnight. There were millions of FTX customers. Now, they don’t know where their money is. Host of The Naked Emperor, Jacob Silverman, co-author of a forthcoming book about crypto and fraud, takes a closer look at the hype around SBF and FTX, and how it only grew, even as other crypto companies crashed around them. How powerful was Sam Bankman-Fried? And how did he initially manage to hang on, to thrive even, as other giants tumbled towards bankruptcy? More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/BFSm5nV4

Duration:00:35:05

A Death In Cryptoland Introduces: Love, Janessa

1/23/2023
Behind every catfish, there’s the bait. Who is Janessa Brazil? Stolen images of an adult entertainment star are being used to con victims out of thousands of dollars, breaking hearts in the process. Journalist Hannah Ajala embarks on a quest to find Janessa, in this 8-part true crime series. And who is responsible for catfishing scams? Produced for the BBC World Service and CBC Podcasts by Antica Productions and Telltale Industries. More episodes are available at:...

Duration:00:36:38

A Death in Cryptoland Introduces: Nothing is Foreign

2/11/2022
World news, local voices. Nothing is Foreign is a weekly trip to where the story is unfolding. Hosted by Tamara Khandaker. This episode takes you inside El Salvador to hear from locals to see how the promise of a cryptocurrency paradise by a self-professed 'world's coolest dictator' is running up against the reality of regular people just trying to survive. More episodes are available at: http://hyperurl.co/nothingisforeign

Duration:00:28:36

Introducing: Boys Like Me

11/23/2021
Why are lonely, young men a growing threat to our safety? In 2018, a Toronto man drove a van down a busy sidewalk, killing 11 people and injuring many more. He was linked to the "incel" movement, a dark online world fueled by violent misogyny, extreme isolation and perceived rejection. In the wake of the attack, Evan Mead discovers a disturbing connection to the perpetrator. They were former high school classmates; both outcasts, existing together on the fringes of social acceptance. How did...

Duration:00:38:03

Introducing: White Hot Hate

10/27/2021
The new investigative series White Hot Hate follows the extraordinary case of young Canadian journalist Ryan Thorpe who infiltrated an international neo-Nazi extremist network. While host Michelle Shephard explores the rise of white supremacist accelerationism: the ultra-violent ideology that drives believers to create chaos, in order to seize ultimate control. More episodes are available at: hyperurl.co/whitehothate

Duration:00:38:14

Introducing: The Flamethrowers

9/8/2021
The Flamethrowers captures the punch-you-in-the-mouth energy and sound of right-wing talk radio. Host Justin Ling takes us from the fringe preachers and conspiracy peddlers of the 1920s to the political firestorm that rages today. With humour and candour, Ling examines the appeal of broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh, who found a sleeping audience, radicalized it, and became an accidental kingmaker — culminating in the election of Donald Trump. More episodes are available at...

Duration:00:05:42

Introducing: Life Jolt

8/5/2021
Life Jolt - prison slang for a life sentence - examines the lives of women navigating Canada’s correctional system. The team gained unprecedented access to the Grand Valley Institution prison, the federal pen for women in Ontario, for a full year. They followed women going into prison for the first time, spoke with lifers who have been there for years, and parolees as they left. Hosted by Rosemary Green, a former inmate herself, Life Jolt focuses on individual women’s stories and the...

Duration:00:37:54

Introducing: The Village: Season 2

6/23/2021
Transgender women, and trans sex workers in particular, know what it means to be marginalized, overpoliced, and underprotected. In season two of The Village, host Justin Ling investigates the stories of two women, Alloura Wells and Cassandra Do, whose deaths remain unexplained, and whose cases expose the systems that failed them. More episodes are available at: smarturl.it/thevillagecbc

Duration:00:48:12

Episode 6: The End Game

6/15/2021
The revelation that Gerry’s house of cards had been falling apart — just as he’s reported dead in India — leaves people wondering: is this an exit scheme? Could Gerry still be alive? From buying a death certificate to Haitian zombie powder, people talk about the conspiracy theories. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/a-death-in-cryptoland-transcripts-listen-1.6035764

Duration:00:47:57

Episode 5: Where’s the Money Gerry?

6/8/2021
As financial investigators struggle to find any of the missing quarter of a billion dollars, they begin to make some bizarre discoveries around how the exchange had operated — finding funny business from the very start. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/a-death-in-cryptoland-transcripts-listen-1.6035764

Duration:00:42:18

Episode 4: Voleur

6/1/2021
Despite Michael Patryn’s denials that he’s a fraudster named Omar Dhanani, customers aren’t buying it. They’re demanding proof. A mugshot. A secret service agent, a felon-turned podcaster, and a childhood friend tell the story of Omar, the man Michael insists he’s not. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/a-death-in-cryptoland-transcripts-listen-1.6035764

Duration:00:38:27

Episode 3: Cracks in the Empire

6/1/2021
Gerald Cotten and his business partner, Michael Patryn, launch QuadrigaCX on Boxing Day, 2013. There’s hype in the budding Bitcoin community and the small exchange seems to have a meteoric rise. But cracks begin to appear, problems with the banks, a software bug, and delays in paying back customers. Meanwhile, online rumours of a criminal past dog Michael Patryn. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/a-death-in-cryptoland-transcripts-listen-1.6035764

Duration:00:35:21

Episode 2: Hunting Ghosts

5/24/2021
QuadrigaCX collapses and there’s widespread panic. An online sleuth searches for answers through a tangle of websites, hidden identities and a trail of emails. He uncovers a pattern of deception that predates his exchange, linking Gerry to a shadowy underworld of fraudsters. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/a-death-in-cryptoland-transcripts-listen-1.6035764

Duration:00:38:53

Episode 1: The Body

5/24/2021
Upon checking into a luxury resort in India, Gerald Cotten complains to staff he’s feeling ill. He and his wife are taken to a hospital and within 24 hours the young CEO is declared dead. A month passes before word gets out to customers that QuadrigaCX’s CEO is gone — along with their money. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/a-death-in-cryptoland-transcripts-listen-1.6035764

Duration:00:37:00

A Death In Cryptoland: Trailer

4/13/2021
When news spread that Gerald Cotten, CEO of QuadrigaCX, died on his honeymoon in India — and had been dead for a month — it set off a series of events that shook the cryptocurrency world. A quarter of a billion dollars worth of customer funds was gone. Two years on, conspiracy theories persist, leaving many asking, is he really dead? A Death in Cryptoland launches May 25.

Duration:00:03:28