By George Ward
As per police reports, MakerDAO’s co-founder, Nikolai Mushegian, is dead. The 29-year-old crypto entrepreneur died in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Police Autopsy stated that the entrepreneur drowned while swimming at the Condado beach.
The co-founder’s death comes after MakerDAO community members greenlighted a custodial deal with Coinbase. According to reports, police authorities carried the deceased’s body around 9:15 am.
Mushegian, the co-founder of the crypto lending firm, MakerDAO, died in San Juan last week. Mushegian was also behind the decentralized stablecoin, DAI.
Mushegian was reportedly swimming in the Condado beach. El Nuevo Día, a local newspaper, reported that the sea’s currents must have dragged the MakerDAO co-founder.
By the time rescuers discovered his body, he was already dead. His body did not have any vital signs. Meanwhile, Condado beach is among the most dangerous swimming spots in the world.
As of 2021, over eight persons allegedly died after drowning. Mushegian, a BitShares contributor, lived in San Juan. Hence, that explains why he was at the beach. Mushegian made several contributions to the crypto space and various industry projects.
Some members of the crypto community called him the DAI architect. He co-created Balancer, an automatic market maker.
Paying Tribute To A Crypto Community Legend
Rune Christensen, the CEO of MakerDAO, also commented on the recent death of the stablecoin innovator. He said Mushegian was a huge part of MakerDAO’s development. Also, Christensen added that Mushegian contributed significantly to the crypto space.
Another crypto entrepreneur who reacted to the news is Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano. Hoskinson said he had an earlier acquaintance with Mushegian since BitShares days.
The Cardano founder referred to him as a bright young man. He had diverse interests in coding and game theory, Hoskinson added.
Craig Sellars, the co-founder of Tether, stated that the recent death comes just after the MakerDAO community approved custody of $1.6B USDC with Coinbase.
In the tweet dated October 28th, the stablecoin innovator talked about possible blackmail from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Mossad. He previously made similar tweets accusing the CIA of planning a “suicide” for him.
Meanwhile, the DAI architect’s death is a massive blow to the crypto and DAO community. The crypto sector has lost yet another brilliant mind with grand plans for the industry. The circumstances surrounding the death of Mushegian remain a mystery.