Nikolai Mushegian was the co-founder of MakerDAO, a cryptocurrency lending platform, and the stablecoin Dai ( DAI). He was found dead in Puerto Rico last Wednesday.
Mushegian died due to drowning after being dragged by sea currents on the Condado beach in San Juan, the local newspaper El Nuevo Dia reported. Mushegian was not showing any vital signs when his body was found.
Condado beach, which is reputed to be one of the most dangerous for swimmers in the world, has claimed the lives of eight people by 2021.
Local authorities received the unfortunate incident on Oct. 28. According to police reports, Mushegian was a San Juan resident. According to reports, the scene was investigated both by the San Juan Homicide Division as well as a local prosecutor.
Mushegian was a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry, contributing to many industry projects. Mushegian was also co-founder of automated market maker Balancer.
Rune Christensen, founder of MakerDAO and CEO of MakerDAO, took to Twitter Oct. 31 to mention that Mushegian has contributed significant inputs to Maker’s evolution and has done some critical work since the beginning days Ethereum.
Nikolai was the first person to be able to foresee the possibility of hacking smart contracts. He also invented the security-oriented approach that we use today to smart contract design. Without Nikolai, Maker would have been toast.
— Rune (@RuneKek)
October 31, 2022
Charles Hoskinson , Cardano founder, wrote via Twitter that he knew Mushegian back in the BitShares days. Hoskinson stated that Mushegian was bright and young. He also said that the coder was very knowledgeable about technology.
Craig Sellars , co-creator of Tether, noted Mushegian’s passing just days after MakerDAO voted USDC to approve custody for $1.6 billion USD Coin ( USDC ).
Related: MakerDAO revenue plunges 86% due to Ether and Wrapped BTC woes
Mushegian was a member of a social media community. Mushegian’s Twitter account, “Delete_shitcoin”, has approximately 5,500 followers as of the date of writing. His last tweet was published a few hours prior to his death. It referred to suggestions of alleged Blackmail from the United States Central Intelligence Agency (USACIA) and Mossad. Similar statements were made by Mushegian on Twitter before, hinting that he might be “suicided” by the CIA.
