Missing Bitcoin and lost execs: Halloween’s creepiest crypto mysteries

From lost millions in landfill hard drives to missing founders, the crypto world teems with legends of loss and deception.

These haunting stories offer a glimpse into the unexpected pitfalls of Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies — and the lengths people will go to recover their elusive fortunes. 

This Halloween, Cointelegraph dives into six of the most spine-chilling mysteries in crypto.

The haunted hard drive and lost Bitcoin in a trash tomb

In the depths of Newport’s landfill in the United Kingdom, a Bitcoin ghost grows in value, haunting the mounds of discarded debris for more than a decade.

In 2013, IT engineer James Howells accidentally tossed a hard drive into this wasteland. The device, holding a fortune of 8,000 BTC, was then valued at $1 million — but now exceeds half a billion dollars.

Howells envisioned numerous expeditions to unearth his buried digital fortune. But each mission met the unyielding resistance of the guardians of this techno-crypt, the local council.

The landfill, bombarded with roughly 110,000 tonnes of garbage, has become a grave for Howell’s Bitcoin — currency that is lost yet immeasurably valuable. 

Related: From landfill to lawsuit: James Howells’ quest to reclaim lost Bitcoin

Howells has sued the Newport City Council for 495 million British pounds ($643 million). 

His case, set to be heard on Dec. 3, will determine whether the Bitcoin ghost hunt at the Newport garbage site should commence or be left to wander the forsaken land for eternity.

The undeletable zombie Bitcoin of the immutable ledger

Like Howell’s forsaken fortune, every instance of lost Bitcoin tells a story — of forgotten passwords scribbled on scraps of paper, wallets damaged by the elements, and investors who took their cryptographic secrets to the grave.

According to data from Glassnode, an estimated 1.5 million BTC are “probably” lost forever.

These slumbering tokens awaken now and then. Those dormant for more than a decade quietly float into exchanges for anonymous to-be millionaires to cash in on their patience. 

But some of them, no matter how long the wait, never return.

Bitcoin watchers frequently visit Satoshi Nakamoto’s wallets, which are rumored to hold more than 1 million BTC, for any sign of life from the enigmatic Bitcoin creator.

But some coins are better left untouched. 

Like Satoshi said, “Lost coins only make everyone else’s coins worth slightly more. Think of it as a donation to everyone.”

The tethered phantom of USDT

Tether’s influence grows every day, with its stablecoin USDt’s (USDT) market capitalization now towering over $120 billion. 

But beneath the calm surface of this stablecoin, rumors swirl like fog over a graveyard. They tell tales of unaccounted reserves, shadowy dealings and regulators rumored to be circling like vultures.

Every so often, as if on cue from some unseen hand, murmurs state that Tether is not what it seems. Investigations are whispered in the corners of the internet, sending shivers down the spines of investors and traders alike.

Related: Unsubstantiated Tether investigation report shakes crypto market

The latest instance occurred on Oct. 25, when a Wall Street Journal exclusive reported an ongoing criminal investigation by United States federal agencies into Tether related to third parties’ illicit use of USDt for money laundering.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino brushed the report as “old noise.”

The fear is palpable: If Tether collapses, it could drag the entire industry into the abyss. A market crash, spurred by a failing stablecoin, remains a fresh yet painful memory for investors, and the prospect of reliving such a nightmare could depeg one from reality.

When Bitcoin soars to new all-time highs, the community huddles in forums and social media, recounting the latest scare. 

“Did you hear? Tether might be investigated again!” they say, their voices tinged with both excitement and fear.

When Bitcoin cools, Tether fears subside, but neither ever disappears entirely.

The disappearance of QuadrigaCX’s founder

As the young CEO of QuadrigaCX, once Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Gerald Cotten was the steward of millions in digital assets 

But in December 2018, his life abruptly ended, and with it, the keys to over $190 million worth of cryptocurrencies were lost.

The circumstances of Cotten’s death were as mysterious as they were sudden. Traveling in India, ostensibly to open an orphanage, the 30-year-old CEO reportedly succumbed to complications from Crohn’s disease. 

It was only after his death that revelations came to light: Cotten alone controlled access to QuadrigaCX’s crypto wallets. Not only were the funds inaccessible, but investigations also began to unravel a web of financial mismanagement. 

Ernst & Young, the court-appointed monitor overseeing the bankruptcy of QuadrigaCX, found six wallets that were used to store Bitcoin, but by the time of their examination, five of these wallets had been empty and inactive for several months prior to Cotten’s reported death. 

The remaining wallet had only a minimal amount of Bitcoin left.

Further investigations uncovered that substantial amounts of cryptocurrency had been transferred off the platform to competitor exchanges into personal accounts controlled by Cotten. It is suspected that these funds were used to fund Cotten’s lavish lifestyle and possibly to trade on other exchanges. 

To this day, some still believe that Cotten faked his death and fled with the funds.

The Cryptoqueen’s vanishing act

Ruja Ignatova, also known as the “Cryptoqueen,” is the infamous founder of OneCoin, a cryptocurrency that was later exposed as a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. 

Ignatova disappeared from public view in 2017, just as investigations into OneCoin were intensifying across multiple countries. Her current status — whether she is dead or alive — is unknown.

OneCoin was marketed as a revolutionary digital currency that would rival Bitcoin, promising huge returns for investors. However, it lacked a true blockchain and was essentially selling worthless tokens. Ignatova and her associates were accused of defrauding investors, amassing around $4 billion, according to estimates.

After her disappearance, various theories about Ignatova’s whereabouts have surfaced. Some believe she may have assumed a new identity with the help of sophisticated forgeries and cosmetic surgery, potentially living in luxury in an undisclosed location.

Others speculate that she could have died as a result of the dangerous criminal connections potentially involved in the OneCoin scheme.

In 2022, Ignatova was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, which noted charges against her, including wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.

No conclusive evidence has confirmed her status or location.

Crypto exchanges caught in the dark

In cryptocurrency trading, fortunes can be made and lost in the blink of an eye. 

Losses don’t necessarily occur due to a market crash or a sudden regulatory crackdown but rather something far more unpredictable and terrifying: sudden blackouts at the most crucial moments across major exchanges.

In January 2018, crypto exchange Kraken’s supposed two-hour upgrade spiraled into a horrifying 48-hour outage. 

Magazine: A bizarre cult is growing around AI-created memecoin ‘religions’: AI Eye 

Meanwhile, in March 2021, Binance faced its own nightmare. A surge in trading activity, a feverish frenzy unseen before, overwhelmed the exchange. Binance went dark, trapping trades in limbo, erasing hopes as swiftly as it erased the figures on the trading boards.

These blackouts are not isolated incidents, nor are they limited to these examples or exchanges. 

Blockchain networks like Solana have also experienced their own downtimes.

However, such events have been getting rarer as the industry matures. No one can predict when and where the next blackout will strike. For a trader who believes they’ve finally found their 1,000x memecoin, a single blackout could drastically reverse their fortune.