Netflix true-crime documentary dives into cryptic death of crypto millionaire Gerald Cotten

• Netflix announced an upcoming documentary about the Quadriga Bitcoin saga and the death of CEO Gerald Cotten.
• Cotten’s sudden death in 2018 led to the disappearance of millions of dollars worth of his investors’ Bitcoin funds.
• The Netflix documentary will follow investors-turned-investigators looking into theories on the founder’s sudden death.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

A new Netflix true-crime documentary is tackling a bizarre story from the world of cryptocurrency.

Netflix’s ‘Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King’ explores the story of Gerald Cotten, founder and CEO of Canadian crypto exchange business QuadrigaCX, whose passed away unexpectedly in 2018.

The documentary follows a group of Quadriga investors turned sleuths who dig into the suspicious death of Cotten and the millions of missing cryptocurrency they believe Cotten stole from them, according to a tweet from Netflix announcing the film.

Cotten encrypted and stored about $190 million worth of his customers’ Bitcoin caches and held sole responsibility for the passwords needed to access those funds. Then, the crypto millionaire suddenly died in India from complications from Crohn’s disease about three years ago. Cotten neglected to pass on the passwords to the accounts, and in 2019, when investigators tracked down Cotten’s digital wallets, all the money was gone. Customers have since struggled to regain access to their money, citing withdrawl issues and lack of communication from the company.

The circumstances sparked speculation from some in the crypto community that the CEO faked his death and stole his clients’ money. Official investigations into the matter have yet to produce any definitive answers. A sneak preview of the Netflix doc contains images that suggest the documentary will show the investors dive deeper into these conspiracies.

The streaming service announced the feature alongside a slate of upcoming true-crime projects last week. Netflix has seen a boom with its true-crime docuseries, from ‘Tiger King’ to ‘Making a Murderer.’ It has led the pack of other streaming giants, producing the most projects in the true-crime genre as of 2020.

‘Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King’ will be released sometime in 2022.