How We Can All Get Our Money Back, And Live Happily Ever After

I first want to start with, this is a horrible tragedy in a lot of ways.

My heart goes out to the family of Gerald Cotten, and the Quadriga community for their loss of the founder. It's such a tragic loss at such a young age.

I've also got a lot of money in jeopardy in this situation, but not as much as many of you. I know that in total, $250 million dollars are in jeopardy, which is a staggering sum that means a lot to a lot of people! This shutting down of the site came as a surprise to me. I wasn't really closely following all the action, it's been a lot of reading recently. What I understand is that:

1. A lot of money is locked in a cold storage wallet. Quadriga can't access it, nobody can access it. The wallet public address is known, so it should be easy to verify the balance, and ensure it's never spent. This money is effectively lost, unless by some miracle there is a new development on this front. My assumption is that this would be a bitcoin wallet, since Quadriga was founded back in 2013.
2. A lot of money in cash is locked in the form of bank bonds that banks are not willing to cash out into cash. There is hope here, that over time, or over public outcry/government pressure, this situation could change. However, it's also not necessarily guaranteed.
3. Quadriga currently has a limited set of funds available for the settlement process, nowhere near the sum of money recorded in balances.
4. All balances are known by Quadriga. There's no disputing any of the balances. The site and all data are still present, just offline.
5. The Quadriga platform works well, and is highly profitable every day that it operates. The primary issues with the site have been withdrawals.

I've thought a lot about this situation. Initially, I had basically written off that I would never see a penny of my money again. Or might get 1% back, if I'm lucky. However, it doesn't have to be that way. There is a way we could all get our money back, and walk away from this situation positively. I've been thinking about it, and it finally came to me this morning. So naturally I wanted to share my idea with you all so we can get the best outcome.

1. All currency presently on the site is converted to "locked" currency. For example, "CAD" will become a new currency "locked CAD", "ETH" will become "locked ETH", "BTC" will become "locked BTC", etc. Every customer receives an equivalent balance in locked currency, which will be clearly displayed on the website as a separate balance, completely distinct from "unlocked" currency. Locked balances could be traded as I've outlined below, however they couldn't be withdrawn. Deposits to the site happen in unlocked currency.
2. Over time, "locked" currency will become "unlocked" currency. A system will be set up and agreed upon where sums can be paid by Quadriga over time to "unlock" the balances, which means that some portion of "locked" currency will be exchanged 1:1 for "unlocked" currency automatically. For example, Quadriga would pay $1000 CAD and $1000 worth of "locked CAD" will become "CAD". This is split over a lot of users in proportion to how much "locked" currency they have, so it means that most users would only get a small amount. However, over time, this will add up, and eventually, all "locked" currency will become "unlocked".
3. Unlocking the "cold storage" will immediately unlock all funds. Quadriga agrees that in the event the cold wallet is unlocked, all funds are immediately released, converted, and paid back to unlock currency within a reasonable time window like 30 days. The cold wallet public key is made public, monitoring of the cold wallet is ongoing, it is very clear if this money is accessed. Quadriga and customers can work together to attempt to unlock the wallet. Everyone wins in this situation.
4. Accessing the "bank bonds" will immediately unlock a lot of funds. Quadriga also agrees that in the event that bank bonds are able to be accessed, this mainly goes towards unlocking currency of users on the site. Quadriga and customers work together in this process, in an organized manner. For example, petitioning government or applying public pressure to the banks so they will honour the funds.
5. An initial settlement will unlock as much currency as reasonable. Quadriga can afford some initial settlement, which converts some locked balance into unlocked balance immediately. This would be negotiated such that the site could continue to operate, however some relief would be felt immediately. All users would get a small amount of their money back immediately in "unlocked" currency.
6. Trading fees will be used to unlock the remaining currency over time. The Quadriga website is brought back online as soon as possible, with the stipulation that half of all trading fees on the platform are paid out to unlock currency on at least a daily basis. This means that every day Quadriga can continue to operate or even make a slight profit, and slowly but consistently over time the amount of "locked" money will decrease and be replaced by "unlocked" money.
7. Ultimately, all of the "locked" money is "unlocked". It could take a long time, or if there's another spike in interest in cryptocurrencies that massively increases trading, it could happen quickly. In the meantime, the site remains operational, some amount of settlement has been paid back, and both sides are working together. The locked balances could gain a small amount of interest over time, as well, to compensate for the delay.

I want to go a bit more in-depth into some of the parts of this proposal, and get feedback on these particular aspects.

Locked currency is simply currency that can't be withdrawn yet. It behaves otherwise similar to other currency on the site, displaying in a separate balance. A customer will have a "CAD" balance, which they could withdraw, as well as a "Locked CAD" balance, which they couldn't. Over time, their "Locked CAD" will be exchanged for "CAD", which will happen automatically, every day, in a 1:1 ratio.

Customers can trade to withdraw locked currency sooner. A trading pair between "Locked CAD"/"CAD" or "Locked ETH"/"ETH" would allow customers who want to withdraw some "unlocked" currency immediately to trade with those who are willing to wait to be able to withdraw more currency later. Some customers of the site have the potentially to earn a significant profit this way, while others will gain liquidity for their "locked" currency. Each trade will also reduce the balance owing through the trading fees.

Locked currency can also be traded against each other. There is a possibility to have separate trading of locked currencies as well. For example, "Locked CAD"/"Locked ETH". This would provide some additional trading revenue, effectively lowering the balance owing over time. This is beneficial for both sides as well. Trading fees received in locked currency can't be applied to unlocking currency. Instead, the balance owing of locked currency is simply reduced by the full value of the trading fee.

I would like to do whatever I can to help, because I know that the pain I am feeling over this is nothing compared with the pain that many others are feeling who are significantly more impacted. I've thought very hard about this, so I really appreciate your time and attention for reading what I wrote as well as your feedback! Thanks again!