Canadian Judge Approves $1.6M in EY, Legal Firm Fees in QuadrigaCX Case

The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Canada, has approved over $1.6 million in fees for parties seeking funds from former Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX, according to recently released court documents.

Justice Darlene Jamieson ordered to approve the activities, fees and disbursements incurred by the Monitor — Big Four audit firm EY — in the ongoing proceedings of QuadrigaCX. 

The exchange ostensibly lost access to its cold wallet holdings following the death of its founder, Gerald Cotten, in December 2018, and now owes over $198.4 million to an estimated 115,000 users.

Jamieson also approved the fees and disbursements of representative counsel, Miller Thomson LLP and Cox & Palmer. As reported in March, law firms Miller Thomson and Cox & Palmer appointed the Official Committee of Affected Users of QuadrigaCX to help the law firms represent all affected users in the court proceedings.

Miller Thomson and Cox & Palmer were appointed as QuadrigaCX’s legal representatives in February by a decision rendered by Justice Michael Wood. The representative council was set to be responsible for “managing communications with users; acting as user liaison for the monitor; advocating for user interests before the court; identify[ing] potential conflicting interest amongst users; and advocating for user privacy.”

In June, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) called on former users of QuadrigaCX to fill out a questionnaire providing details concerning their experience with the company and personal data. The FBI stated that it may follow up with certain individuals based on the answers they provided.