The death of MakerDAO's Founder, Nikolai Mushegian: Full Story Uncovered

The developer, who played a key role in the early creation of DAOs, stablecoins, and Web3 security, tweeted only hours before his passing that unidentified assailants, including the Mossad, the CIA, and a "pedo ring," had plans to assassinate him.

What happened?

The reason for the death of the co-founder of MakerDAO (1), who tweeted hours before being discovered dead on a beach in Puerto Rico, is still unknown, pending the results of an autopsy. Police in Puerto Rico have not discovered any indications of foul play in the death of MakerDAO co-founder Nikolai Mushegian, even though their investigation is still ongoing.

Where was he found?

Mushegian, 29, was found dead last week when his corpse washed ashore on a beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico's Condado district. Naturally, a lot of simmering conspiracy theories were fed by the tweet. However, according to San Juan police data, the investigation into Mushegian's death has turned up no evidence of foul play. Mushegian did have a minor skull laceration, but police first discovered "no traces of violence" when they examined his corpse.

On Ashford Beach, which is well-known in San Juan for its hazardous swimming conditions, Mushegian's body was found. In the region, several swimmers have perished, mostly tourists. Due to the beach's strong undercurrents and rocky surroundings, several signs usually advise visitors not to swim. However, some of these signs may have recently been destroyed by the terrible storm that hit Puerto Rico in September. Most people who visit the Ashford Beach section where Mushegian was discovered are surfers. There was no proof Mushegian had been surfing before he passed away.

The Investigation

The investigation is being conducted by the homicide unit of the Puerto Rico Police Bureau, as is customary in cases involving drowning deaths. Additionally, it is usual to wait until an official autopsy has been performed and the results have been filed before determining the cause of death. But according to a source with direct knowledge of the inquiry, several pieces of evidence suggest that Mushegian's death could have been a suicide.

People who knew him lamented his departure as a tragedy that might have been avoided. He was an example of the many "talented but disturbed" executives in the crypto industry who suffer from mental health problems. The inventor of the cryptocurrency began tweeting more conspiratorial remarks in the months before Mushegian's passing, suggesting that his ex-girlfriend had connected him to a criminal plot involving agents from the government.

When he last spoke to Mushegian three months ago, Rune Christensen, another co-founder of MakerDAO, reported to Decrypt that Mushegian appeared to be in high spirits. However, he was already displaying worries about criminal and governmental plots. Christensen remarked that the man appeared content while he built the RICO stablecoin. But he was also concerned about a gang that he thought was attempting to obstruct his job.

Potential suspects?

Mushegian allegedly departed MakerDAO in 2018 because he was unhappy with how far the project had deviated from its original goals of decentralization and resistance to traditional money. Christensen continues to play a significant role in the protocol, which only last week authorized significant cooperation with publicly listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and invested $500 million in U.S. Treasury bonds in the previous month.

Most recently, Mushegian was developing RICO, a decentralized stablecoin intended to be a "spiritual successor" to MakerDAO's stablecoin DAI, but that was created "without compromises." But in his dying days, he seemed to believe that the stablecoin had incited state actors who feared that the cryptocurrency might undermine the power of the central banking system and that they were plotting to kill him. Ameen Soleimani, CEO of Spanchain and co-founder of Reflex, the organization that created RAI, an Ethereum-backed stablecoin that Mushegian highly influenced, have recently reaffirmed their convictions Mushegian was killed.