The Mysterious Series: How Crypto Millionaires Died Under Suspicious Circumstances

Since the early 2010s, a series of mysterious deaths have occurred in the cryptocurrency community that still raises questions to this day. At least seven prominent figures from the crypto millionaire environment died under circumstances marked by contradictions and unexplained details – officially, these were classified as accidents, suicides or natural causes of death, but the community is still speculating about alternative explanations to this day.

These deaths shine a spotlight on a dark side of early cryptocurrency history. One developer died in his sleep at just 30 years old, two were caught by ocean currents, and the co-founder of a major fintech company died in a helicopter crash under clear skies. The cases are shrouded in a web of theories, speculations, and unanswered questions that continue to preoccupy the crypto community.

Autumn Radke: A Mysterious Death at the Beginning of the Bitcoin Era

The beginning of this tragic series was marked by Autumn Radke, the 28-year-old CEO of crypto exchange First Meta Pte Ltd. In 2014 in Singapore, the entrepreneur died in circumstances classified as suicide – an event that shook the young crypto community. The year 2014 was a critical period: Bitcoin had just gone through its first explosive growth cycle, after the cryptocurrency had risen from about $130 to $1,127 in late 2013 to early 2014 – an almost nine-fold increase in just three months.

Radke was a pioneer in this male-dominated field. She had moved to Singapore from the US in 2012 and founded First Meta, one of the first platforms to enable cryptocurrency trading and conversion into fiat currencies. Scott Robinson, director of Plug and Play in Silicon Valley, described Radke as an expert and indispensable asset for the nascent Bitcoin industry. The businesswoman was even supposed to conduct training programs for aspiring Bitcoin entrepreneurs in California in March 2014.

The official investigation attributed Radke’s death to “personal problems” – a vague term that also included Bitcoin’s price drop in February 2014. After the spectacular rise in the fall of 2013, Bitcoin actually experienced a massive decline: the currency fell by more than 50 percent, and at the time of Radke’s death, the Bitcoin price was around $490, but was traded on various exchanges at prices ranging from $220 to $600.

However, there is hardly any reliable evidence that this price decline put an emotional strain on Radke. In her social media posts from that time, she expressed optimism: In a tweet, she described the price drop as a “Christmas sale” and emphasized that it gave real Bitcoin followers a 30 to 40 percent discount on their purchases. Douglas Abrams, director of First Meta, also confirmed that Radke did an excellent job and was a wonderful leader. He also vigorously rejected rumors of an imminent plant closure.

Nevertheless, after Radke’s death, speculation arose on the internet about connections to Brock Pierce, an early major Bitcoin investor who later earned a controversial reputation and appeared as a US presidential candidate in 2020. Some wondered if Radke might have known compromising information about Pierce – an unproven thesis that persisted in parts of the community.

Nikolay Mushegyan: The developer with uncomfortable questions

About eight years later, on October 28, 2022, the next mysterious death occurred. Nikolay Mushegyan, a 29-year-old developer with great influence in the DeFi community, died while swimming at Condado Beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The local newspaper El Nuevo Día reported that Mushegyan had been caught by ocean currents and had already been found lifeless.

Mushegyan has not been an insignificant player in the crypto landscape. He co-founded Balancer, a well-known automated market maker (AMM), and had made significant contributions to the development of MakerDAO – one of the most important decentralized finance platforms around. In addition, he worked on several other projects such as the MakerDAO forks Rico and Rai, as well as the BitShares blockchain. Rune Christensen, the founder and CEO of MakerDAO, recognized Mushegyan as a long-time, talented member of the team who has made significant contributions since Ethereum’s early days.

However, what makes this case special was Mushegyan’s activity on social media shortly before his death. The developer had about 5,500 followers on Twitter and used the platform to comment on important topics. In his recent tweets, he referred to controversial speculation about possible blackmail attempts by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and the Mossad – accusations for which international media publicly characterized him as paranoid. This tweet was to be his last.

San Juan authorities and Puerto Rico prosecutors investigated the circumstances, but officially classified the death as an accident – an ocean current tragedy. But for parts of the crypto community, the question remained: Was Mushegyan really just a victim of a dangerous ocean current, or was there more to it than that?

A pattern that raises questions

These two cases are just the beginning of a series of mysterious deaths of crypto millionaires and prominent developers. Each of these cases is marked by a combination of official statements and community speculation, which begs the question: Is it just a tragic coincidence that so many talented and wealthy individuals from the crypto industry died under suspicious circumstances?

The answers remain fragmentary, the questions, on the other hand, persistent. What is certain is that these stories have become deeply engraved in the collective memory of the crypto community and serve as a cautionary tale that the world of cryptocurrencies is not without risks.