Conspiracies Roil Crypto Crowd After Pioneer’s Shock Drowning Death

Friends and followers of a 29-year-old cryptocurrency whiz have been left at a loss for answers after he was found dead on a Puerto Rico beach late last month. Though Nikolas Mushegian, a trailblazer in multiple DAO and stablecoin projects, was determined to have drowned, it remains unclear whether his death was accidental—and if not, by whose hand it occurred. Hours before Mushegian was discovered washed up on a Condado beach known for its dangerous conditions on Oct. 28, he had tweeted about a “sex trafficking entrapment blackmail ring” being run by the “CIA and Mossad and pedo elite,” adding ominously: “They will torture me to death.” But San Juan authorities have found no signs of foul play amidst an ongoing investigation, and several of Mushegian’s friends indicated to the New York Post that the 29-year-old’s death may have been a suicide. One source said Mushegian had been paranoid and smoked “a tremendous amount” of marijuana, though another reported Mushegian had been sober for six months. “He was a brilliant guy and I wouldn’t call him a tinfoil-hat kind of person at all,” investor Michael Terpin told the newspaper. “... I don’t see any way this could have been an accident.”