Nikolai Mushegian, co-founder of crypto lending platform MakerDAO and decentralized stablecoin Dai (DAI), was found dead in Puerto Rico last week.
Mushegian drowned after being swept away by ocean currents on the San Juan County beach, local newspaper El Nuevo Día reported. Mushegian had no vital signs when his body was recovered.
Condado beach is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world for bathers, as, according to news, it has claimed the lives of at least eight people in 2021.
The unfortunate event was reported to local authorities on the morning of October 28. According to a police report, Mushegian was a resident of San Juan. The scene was reportedly investigated by the San Juan Homicide Division and a local prosecutor.
Mushegian was a major figure in the cryptocurrency community, contributing to multiple industry projects, with some referring to him as a “DAI architect”. The 29-year-old cryptocurrency developer is known for his work with MakerDAO forks Rico and Rai, as well as the BitShares proof-of-stake blockchain network. Mushegian is also a co-founder of the Balancer automated market maker.
The founder and CEO of MakerDAO, Rune Christensen took to Twitter on Oct. 31 to say that Mushegian contributed significant input to the development of Maker and has done crucial work since the early days of Ethereum.
Nikolai was one of the only people in the early days of Ethereum and smart contracts who was able to predict the possibility of smart contract hacks and invented the security-oriented approach to smart contract design we know today. Maker would have been toast without him
— Rune (@RuneKek) October 31, 2022
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson wrote on Twitter that he had known Mushegian since the days of Bitshares. “He was a very young and extremely bright man who had a wide range of interests, from game theory to Urbit,” Hoskinson said, adding that the programmer had a deep understanding of the technology.
Tether co-creator Craig Sellars he pointed that Mushegian’s death came just days after the MakerDAO community voted to approve custody of $1.6 billion worth of USD Coin (USDC) with Coinbase.
Mushegian was an active member of the community on social media. His Twitter account, Delete_shitcoin, have some 5,500 followers at press time. His last tweet was published just hours before his death, referring to suggestions of alleged blackmail by the Central Intelligence Agency and Mossad. Mushegian previously made similar statements on Twitter, insinuating a possible “suicide” by the CIA as one of his possible futures.
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