MakerDAO and Balancer Labs co-founder Nikolai Mushegian has died aged 29, reports revealed on Friday last week.
He died after drowning due to riptides at Condado Beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico, El Nuevo Dia reported at the time. Authorities pronounced him dead at the scene following the rescue attempt on 28 October.
The beach has recently claimed the lives of roughly eight people last year and is widely considered a dangerous place for swimming activities.
The incident is under investigation by local authorities and a prosecutor working on the case.
Remembering Mushegian’s Legacy
The world-famous “Dai Architect” remains a key voice of the crypto space for his work with the industry, including MakerDAO forks Rico and Rai. He also collaborated on BitShares, a proof-of-stake blockchain network, and the automated market platform Balancer.
Rune Christensen, MakerDAO founder and chief executive, tweeted on Monday that his colleague had been “one of the only people in the early days of Ethereum and smart contracts” to predict potential hacks, leading to the development of security-based approaches to current designs.
“Maker would have been toast without him,” he concluded.
Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson added that Mushegian was a “very young and extremely bright man” with a wide range of interests and a deep understanding of technology.
He also actively campaigned on social media. One of his final tweets, hours before his death, alleged that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Israel’s Mossad were blackmailing him.
User Danpub added that MakerDAO disrupted “the traditional financial system by offering users access to #ETH #USD loans without collateral,” indicating a potential conflict with the banking system.
