Canadian province goes after QuadrigaCX co-founder over unexplained wealth

QuadrigaCX co-founder Michael Patryn is risking losing assets as the Canadian province of British Columbia pursues an “unexplained wealth order” amid allegations of fraud.

QuadrigaCX co-founder Michael Patryn has come under the spotlight once again after the British Columbia Civil Forfeiture Office announced its initiation of an application for an “unexplained wealth order,” targeting $250,200 in cash, 45 gold bars, four luxury watches, and various expensive jewelry allegedly belonging to Patryn.

In a press release on Mar. 27, Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, said the province wants to demonstrate that “criminals will have to prove that their assets are the proceeds of lawful activity and not financial crime.”

QuadrigaCX, once Canada’s leading crypto exchange, plunged into bankruptcy after the death of co-founder Gerald Cotten in December 2018, leaving users unable to access funds stored in the company’s crypto wallets apparently controlled by Cotten.

The scrutiny extends to Patryn’s background, with reports suggesting a criminal history in the U.S. under the alias Omar Dhanani, related to involvement in an online marketplace trafficking stolen credit card numbers and identities. Patryn acknowledged ownership of the assets under scrutiny but refuted claims of their association with illegal activities. His current whereabouts are speculated to be in Thailand.

Paradigm-backed NFT card game Parallel has secured $35 million from a group of investors to expand the universe across new platforms.

Parallel, a sci-fi NFT card game, that supports the Ethereum blockchain and the Base layer-2 chain, has completed another financing round, bagging in $35 million from a pool of investors. In an X post on Mar. 28, the game developers said the funding was supported by Distributed Global, The Operating Group, VanEck, Solana Ventures, Base Ecosystem Fund, and Amber among others.

The project’s valuation following the funding was not disclosed, although the developers said that the proceedings will be used to “expand the Parallel universe across new mediums and platforms.” As of press time, other details were not disclosed.

Since its launch in 2021, Parallel has remained in open beta, offering players the opportunity to collect, trade, and engage with unique ingame assets represented as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The game’s narrative revolves around a fantasy storyline depicting humanity’s endeavor to escape into space following a global energy crisis.

Following the launch, the game initially raised $50 million at a valuation of half a billion dollars, with support from crypto venture firm Paradigm and other investors, according to a report from TechCrunch. However, it remains uncertain whether the project’s valuation has been affected by the 2023 crypto winter, which saw valuation declines across many blockchain ventures.

As the meme coin market thrives, Pepe (PEPE) and KangaMoon (KANG) emerge as standout contenders, with Pepe making remarkable market strides and KangaMoon surging 180% in its presale, drawing investor attention.

With the meme coin frenzy set to continue in the coming months, buyers are waiting in the wings for the best meme coins to invest in. Pepe (PEPE), the last meme coin to see incredible surges is in the news again, posting astonishing surges to draw the attention of buyers. KangaMoon (KANG) has also rocketed by 180% in a few weeks of starting the presale.