In late October and November, things in the Cryptoverse got a bit, well.. Weird.
Three of their financial giants mysteriously died leaving in their wake three things: questions, conspiracy theories and money. Nikolai Mushegian, 29; Tiantian Kullander, 30; and Vyacheslav Taran, 53 each made dents in the cryptocurrency industry where they became very well-known. Due to the nature of the deaths and the short time in between each death, there has been some speculation concerning what really happened to these.
Nichely referred to as “Dai architect” by some, Nikolai Mushegian overall is known as a cryptocurrency pioneer. Blockchain architect, entrepreneur and also known as Nikolai MuchGain, he is an early developer/co-founder of MakerDAO, the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol and was a key architect of stablecoin systems— currencies without government backing. Nikolai, while in Puerto Rico on October 28th, tweeted that he was fearful that his life was in danger. He expressed this to his Twitter followers via a tweet at 4:57AM saying: “CIA and Mossad and pedo elite are running some kind of sex trafficking entrapment blackmail ring out of Puerto Rico and Caribbean islands. They are going to frame me with a laptop planted by my ex-gf who was a spy. They will torture me to death.” Hours later after 9AM, reports came in that a body was discovered and to the shock of many, turned out to be Nikolai’s. His body was found floating in the waves at Ashford Beach, a spot known for riptides where people are encouraged not to swim. He was wearing his clothes and had his wallet on him, sources told The Post.
However, someone who knew Nikolai personally commented that Nikolai suffered from mental health issues and paranoia. “He had mental problems,” the source who spoke on condition of anonymity said. “He saw a psychiatrist at times, he smoked a lot of pot, a tremendous amount. Some of his paranoia was based on fact,” said the source. People close to him chimed in that from what they knew about the crypto pioneer, his death could have been deliberate as it was revealed that Nikolai in the last couple of weeks was spiraling. It got to the point where his father stepped in to stay with him. Folks on Twitter upon hearing of his death curated the picture of what they think happened to him. “Translation. He got busted with kiddie pοrn, tweeted a conspiracy theory for the sheep and then off’d himself vs going to prison…”; “Why would someone confess to a crime and destroy their name and legacy only to off themselves? Someone should be checking your hard drive… Just sayin”; and “Panic, not sure what to do and claims he’s being framed. Realized there’s no way out and offs himself”. In September, Mushegian tweeted that there were “3 possible futures for me 1) suicided by CIA 2) CIA brain damage slave asset 3) worst nightmare of people who f–ked with me up until now, I am sure these are the only options.” He carried a net worth of approximately $8-9 million.
Around four weeks after Mushegian’s death, another crypto pioneer shockingly passed away. Tiantian Kullander, this young man was the co-founder of Amber Group which is a Hong Kong-based digital asset company. With a group of finance insiders, the company was set up in 2017. The finance world was undoubtedly rocked when Kullander’s death was announced, especially given his age, 30. However, what made people’s brows shoot up was the manner in which he died. It was reported that he died peacefully in his sleep on November 23rd. Also revealed was that his company, the Amber Group, has exposure to FTX which has been declared bankrupt. It was said that the Amber Group was an “active trading participant” on the platform. Tiantian Kullander’s death comes on the heels of Nikolai Mushegian’s and, like the latter, people are convinced natural causes aren’t in play. One online user without hesitation said, “He was suicided! This along with FTX! Democrats are working towards the central bank controlling crypto! No more free market!” Kullander reportedly had a net worth of around $3 billion according to the South China Morning Post, and Amber Group, which he helped found in 2017, is valued at $2.9 billion.
Then, just two days later on November 25th, Vyacheslav Taran was pronounced dead. While traveling to Monaco, the Russian crypto billionaire succumbed to a helicopter crash. Taran, founder of the Forex Club and president of the Libertex Group, left Switzerland for Monaco via Airbus H130 and on the way, via France, crashed in Villefranche-sur-Mer. Vyacheslav Taran, with the help of his group of companies, united by the common name Forex Club, opened the Forex currency market for Russia. The businessman earned millions of dollars not so much as a trader, but by actively involving Russian citizens in currency speculation all the while promising them fabulous incomes with minimum investment. Taran popularized Forex by writing several books which then became a guide for future “investors” and “traders”. He created the International Academy of Investment and Trading, in which he was both a teacher and a rector. Taran’s company, Forex Club — a reference to the foreign exchange global market on which currencies are traded — was stripped of its license in Russia in 2018 for allegedly ripping off investors, according to a report by Life, a pro-Kremlin Russian media outlet. According to the New York Post, the site claimed Taran “has many dissatisfied clients and enemies in Russia, who could well get him abroad.” Vyacheslav Taran carried a net worth of $20.2 billion.
