Crypto CEOs' and founders' 'sudden deaths'—what we do know, what we don't (2024)

News of the deaths of two major cryptocurrency CEOs in one week has fueled a spate of conspiratorial claims and narratives, purporting sinister links between their passing and that of other billionaires and multi-millionaires from the industry over the years.

Tiantian Kullander and Vyacheslav Taran, who both died within the past fortnight, had fortunes estimated to be worth billions of dollars and are now at the center of new conspiracy narratives on social media, despite limited-to-no evidence that either died as the result of a plot against them or other foul play.

It follows only a month after millionaire cryptocurrency developer Nikolai Mushegian, 29, drowned in Puerto Rico.

Their passing prompted some people online to search back to other mysterious or unexplained deaths and disappearances, again with little to connect these individuals beyond the source of their wealth.

The volatility of cryptocurrency, its various adjacent scandals, and its touted utility as a decentralized alternative to traditional banking systems (with vast potential for money laundering), has invited dramatic conversation and wild theorizing, even when evidence is either lacking or non-existent. Reports of any new deaths, these conversations show, are ripe for exploitation by the conspiratorially-minded.

With this in mind, Newsweek explored the history building up to recent events in an attempt to pick apart some of these threads.

Autumn Radtke

Among the earliest deaths to fuel speculation in some conspiracy theory circles is that of 28-year-old Autumn Radtke, who died in 2014.

The CEO of currency exchange First Meta Pte Ltd, Radtke died in Singapore, with a Singapore Coroner's Court ruling her death as suicide.

The coroner, cited by Singapore's Straits Times, found no foul play, noting that she had been looking into suicide methods before her death and had confided in friends and colleagues about her stress.

Even before a coroner's conclusion, there were still speculative accounts surrounding her death, with one article by Slate stating her death seemed "rash".

Despite the conclusion of the coroner, it seems that Radtke has been singled out, misleadingly, as being connected to the recent deaths, even though she died more than eight years ago.

Gerald Cotten

Among the most controversial deaths in the cryptocurrency industry was that of Gerald Cotten, the founder of Quadriga CX, once Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange, who died during his honeymoon with his wife, Jennifer Robertson, in Jaipur, India, in 2018.

According to an investigation by Canada's Globe and Mail, Cotten, 30 died from complications related to Crohn's Disease and Robertson returned to Canada with his body.

The price of Bitcoin had begun to crash before his death, and his company was on track to lose millions of dollars.

At the time of his passing, he had a net worth of over CA$250 million ($200 million) and the passwords to Quadriga's accounts. According to a Netflix documentary about him, at least 110,000 customers were affected.

However, after an investigation by the Ontario Securities Commission, it was discovered that Quadriga CX was essentially a "Ponzi scheme." The investigation found Cotten had created "fake Quadriga accounts, used fake funds and made real trades, betting on the value of cryptocurrency."

In its report, the Ontario Securities Commission recorded: "The downfall of crypto-asset trading platform Quadriga CX (Quadriga) resulted from a fraud committed by Quadriga's co-founder and CEO Gerald Cotten."

A report by auditor Ernst & Young also found that funds were transferred to Cotten personally and to other parties. An article by the BBC stated there were CA$33 million ($24.5 million) in missing funds.

Some, however, believe he is still alive, fuelled by the misspelling of his name on his death certificate, and that he had prepared his will just days before his honeymoon.

Other Quadriga investors believed Cotten faked his death and ran off with millions as part of an "exit scam," while some believed he had his face modified by a plastic surgeon and was no longer recognizable.

At one point, there were calls for Cotten's grave to be exhumed for an autopsy to be performed on the body "to confirm both its identity and the cause of death."

Nonetheless, the surrounding conspiracy theories remain unproven, and there does not appear to be any clear link between him and others that have died recently.

Matthew Mellon

The same year, Matthew Mellon, a banking heir and crypto billionaire, died unexpectedly. Mellon reportedly had longstanding issues with drugs. His net worth on paper was reported by Money to be around $1 billion.

Both he and Gerald Cotten have been drawn into conspiratorial claims about their deaths.

An unnamed source told the Daily Mail in 2018 about their suspicions that Mellon may have been "murdered" for his cryptocurrency.

"Hundreds of millions of dollars are missing, possibly for ever," they said.

"Matthew always said 'they' were out to get him. Perhaps he was right?"

However, this allegation remains unevidenced and isn't linked to the same type of conspiratorial claims that surround the deaths of other crypto billionaires.

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Mircea Popescu

Three years later, in 2021, Romanian Bitcoin investor Mircea Popescu died, leaving a fortune thought to be worth more than $2 billion, according to a variety of media sources. The figure appears to be based on his estimated holdings of 30,000 Bitcoin at what was the cryptocurrency's peak before his death.

Popescu was said to have drowned off the coast of Costa Rica, with reports stating he had been swept away by the current, according to Costa Rican broadcaster Teletica.

The billionaire wrote in his blog, Trilema, that he started MPEx in 2012, described in a Bitcoin Magazine article as a "bitcoin securities exchange." An article by crypto news site Coindesk claimed that MPEx was investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2014.

Popescu's name has been circulated within conversations surrounding the most recent cryptocurrency billionaires' deaths, with some noting the similarity between his drowning and that of Nikolai Mushegian.

However, there appear to be substantial grounds to believe that Popescu's death was indeed accidental.

Tiletica reported that lifeguards near the beach where he drowned (Playa Hermosa) said it was "not a swimming area."

"In addition, they recommend never entering the sea alone, without lifeguards, people or surfers nearby to ask for help in case of emergency," a translation of the Teletica article stated.

A 2017 article by The Costa Rica Star reported that, following two drownings, the Playa Hermosa Wildlife Refuge recommended visitors "NOT to swim in this beach."

This would strongly support the idea that Popescu's death was caused by his swimming in dangerous waters.

A 2021 blog post by "Hannah Wiggins", who previously identified themselves as the "functional head of Mircea Popescu's household" (and Popescu appeared to identify in his blog) suggested no foul play, stating: "The greatest man who ever lived died this morning doing one of the things he loved best: playing in the ocean."

While an account of no foul play has not been confirmed by authorities in reports since his death (with some social media users contemplating whether there was a plot) there isn't sufficient evidence leading to that conclusion.

Nikolai Mushegian

The first among the group of notable crypto entrepreneurs who died this year was Nikolai Mushegian.

Mushegian was, according to CoinDesk, an early developer of MakerDAO, described as "the largest decentralized finance protocol"—a type of financial technology designed to remove third parties and centralized institutions from monetary transactions.

An article (paywalled) by a Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día, published on the day of his death, stated that Puerto Rico Police Department said Mushegian was "swept away by sea currents" on Condado beach in San Juan.

"According to a police report, the incident was reported at 9:15 a.m. when authorities were alerted that the man, identified as Nicolai Arcadie Muchgian [sic], had been dragged," a translation of the article stated.

"Rescue personnel managed to rescue his body that no longer showed vital signs, it was reported."

Earlier that day, Mushegian published a paranoid message purporting threats to his life on his Twitter page.

"CIA and Mossad and pedo elite are running some kind of sex trafficking entrapment blackmail ring out of Puerto Rico and caribbean islands," [sic] his last tweet stated.

"They are going to frame me with a laptop planted by my ex gf who was a spy. They will torture me to death."

A follow-up November 9, 2022, New York Post report stated that San Juan Police had confirmed to the tabloid "that Mushegian's death is still under investigation but is not considered a homicide at present."

A November 4, 2022, article by crypto news site Decrypt also claimed its journalists had obtained San Juan police records that indicated investigators had found no evidence of foul play.

"Police found 'no signs of violence' during a preliminary examination of Mushegian's body, though he did suffer a small laceration to his skull," it stated.

Mushegian had previously posted other tweets about a fraud cartel targeting him, among other conspiratorial tweets.

However, following his death, friend and crypto billionaire Brock Pierce told the New York Post: "His mother clarified that his death had nothing to do with his [conspiracy] tweets,"

"He was a beautiful man and a child at heart. He was also an incredible visionary, I don't call people brilliant very often but Nikolai was brilliant. And brilliant people sometimes walk the edge of insanity."

The article also says that Pierce "came to believe the drowning was neither accidental nor the result of foul play — hinting that it was self-inflicted."

"'Intelligence agencies are not hunting down crypto pioneers,'" Pierce told the Post.

"If the government were knocking off people in this field, I would know."

It nonetheless triggered other tweets from the crypto community expressing suspicion of foul play.

Sources also told the New York Post that Mushegian suffered from mental illness, had seen a psychiatrist, and noted that he smoked a "tremendous" amount of cannabis.

Condado Beach in San Juan, where Mushegian's body was found, is reportedly dangerous too. A 2017 article for floatsuit manufacturer Airtime Wartime Inc. titled "Drowning Crisis on Puerto Rico Beaches" stated, "At Condado Beach, a favorite tourist destination, there is at least one drowning every 3.5 days, according to volunteer lifeguards."

In an interview for the piece, head lifeguard Gabriel Swan said "On a busy day we can have 5 drownings."

"Technically, this is a high surf, no-swim beach, so there are no lifeguards," he added

"But there are hotels on the beach, and a party atmosphere, and people swim even though they shouldn't."

A San Juan tourism guide states that "Condado Beach is not safe for swimming or bathing, the water has very dangerous currents.

"Neither adults nor children should be swimming at Condado Beach."

Like in the case of Mircea Popescu, this strongly suggests that whatever the events were that led up to his death, Mushegian had been in notoriously dangerous waters.

As it stands, there is no evidence beyond the tweets (dismissed by some of those who knew him as paranoia) to suggest that there was a conspiracy behind his death.

Vyacheslav Taran

On November 25, 2022, Forex Club founder and billionaire Vyacheslav Taran, who had investments in blockchain-linked projects, died in a helicopter crash near his home in south-eastern France.

"The Russian Embassy confirms the death of Vyacheslav Taran in a helicopter crash that occurred on Friday in the area of Villefranche-sur-Mer commune," Alexander Makogonov, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Paris, told the state news agency TASS.

"Representatives of the Russian Consulate in Villefranche-sur-Mer are staying in touch with the family of the deceased to settle all administrative matters."

French public broadcaster France Bleu wrote in a November 25 report that the crash occurred in "very mild" weather, with a pilot familiar with the area at the helm of an Airbus H130, a multimillion-dollar touring aircraft considered to be top-of-the-line around the world.

Pro-Kremlin news outlet Life.ru, claimed that Taran "had enemies in Russia" related to his cryptocurrency business—a sector that has gained newfound importance in the country, whose economy has been largely cut off from global markets by international sanctions, introduced in response Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Life.ru, which is known to target dissidents and opposition figures in Russia and abroad with leaked or compromising materials, published an article about the death.

With no sources cited, it suggested Taran had ripped off customers in his operation's day-to-day business dealings, noting that the Bank of Russia canceled the licenses of his exchanges for "repeated violations of securities laws by companies."

"Only officially, these five forex dealers owe their investors 35 million rubles," the outlet wrote.

"How much money was pulled out of the wallets of Russian citizens in reality, no one knows. That is why Taran has many dissatisfied clients and enemies in Russia, who could well get him abroad."

The Taran family released a statement following his death stating: "We categorically deny that he was involved in any way with the Russian Intelligence services or the Russian government in any capacity and we also categorically deny that he was involved in money laundering for Russian "elites" or in any other illegal activity.

"These are completely unfounded fabrications and outright lies, which have compounded our grief at this very difficult time."

The family added that there was nothing "'mysterious'" about the death and that "everyone should wait until the investigation is fully completed before jumping to conclusions or speculating about crazy conspiracy theories."

"Above all, he was a loyal and supportive friend, husband and father and we would politely request that his memory is not dishonoured by false information or baseless speculation," they added.

Whether his death was directly related to the cryptocurrency side of his business is unknown, although he is now among more than a dozen Russian businessmen, representing industries like fossil fuels, transportation, and media, who have died under sometimes-suspicious circ*mstances, with several bearing a track record of criticism toward the Russian government, the war or President Vladimir Putin.

However, so close to his death, the conspiratorial narratives around Taran's passing appear, at least on the surface, to be premature.

There is also no known evidence linking his tragic accident to the other deaths mentioned here.

Tiantian Kullander

The same week of Taran's death, Tiantian Kullander, a co-founder of digital asset company Amber Group, died in his sleep on November 23, 2022. According to an Amber Group press release, his company was said to have been valued at $3 billion.

A statement by Amber Group read: "It is with the deepest sadness and a heavy heart that we inform you of the passing of our friend and co-founder, Tiantian Kullander, who passed away unexpectedly in his sleep on November 23, 2022.

"Tiantian (or "TT", as he was lovingly known) was instrumental to the founding of Amber and a pillar of our success. He put his heart and soul into the company, in every stage of its growth. He led by example with his intellect, generosity, humility, diligence and creativity."

He is survived by his wife and their son.

Nonetheless, his death is being treated by conspiracy theorists as suspicious, with claims that "Big Brother" killed him, Taran, and Mushegian. These claims are presented without evidence.

Again, there is nothing to corroborate the insinuations of foul play. Indeed, with his death announced so recently, the only information out there appears to be speculative.

Why have these theories taken root?

The accounts that tie together the deaths of these wealthy crypto investors and figureheads appear to be an opportunistic attempt to carve a narrative based on little more than suspicion—a common basis for conspiracy theories to flourish.

Cryptocurrency communities have often found bonds in anti-establishment causes and philosophies, skeptical of traditional banking systems, seeking to engineer alternatives to centralized monetary institutions and financial routes.

The relative nascency of cryptocurrency has in turn catalyzed suspicion among politicians and institutional figures, keen to tighten regulation in a market that (traditionally at least) celebrated its libertarianism.

This mutual distrust between establishment leaders and those espousing cryptocurrency's merits foments an apparently ideal environment for speculative and conspiracist narratives to flourish.

Past stories about notorious cryptocurrency scammers such as Ruja Ignatova and Satish Kumbhani, and a wider history of scams and frauds across the market, help breed the notion—presumably among both cryptocurrency's champions and critics—that there is also inherent secrecy to the industry, or that more goes on behind the scenes.

The mystery surrounding the founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, is emblematic of the fog of hearsay and rumor that has enveloped the market since its birth.

Professor David Yermack, who teaches Bitcoin & Cryptocurrencies at NYU Stern, told Newsweek that mysteries like this, combined with the billions of dollars spread throughout the market, fuelled speculation.

"The classic case of intrigue, of course, is Quadriga, and the disappearance of Satoshi Nakamoto is also a focal point for many people," Yermack said.

"In these and other cases there is always suspicion of somebody's death being staged so that they can abscond with crypto assets that are generally unregulated and can be difficult to trace."

The recent collapse of FTX pays further heed to this, and further stokes public interest in the subject. Once one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, it was brought down following a scandal involving its former CEO Sam Bankman Fried.

FTX's connection to American politics has already laid the ground for new misleading narratives tying the purported special interests of the U.S. and Ukrainian governments.

Earlier this year, the collapse of TerraUSD and its sister cryptocurrency LUNA led to panic across the crypto markets and, again, further suspicion that its top players were withholding information from its investors worldwide.

Professor V. Gerard Comizio of Washington College of Law, who teaches virtual currency law, told Newsweek that cryptocurrency's infancy was perhaps a key factor in fomenting conspiratorial narratives.

"It may be argued that crypto draws conspiracy theories because crypto and its related industries are still relatively new and not well understood, even by crypto investors," Comizio said.

"In addition, to date it has tended to attract founders and management who are outside normal corporate and financial services industry circles.

"Further, the crypto industry may be viewed as existing outside regulatory systems and structures, and having a degree of a libertarian mythology surrounding them,

"Finally, most crypto companies are not public companies subject to extensive public disclosure requirements, so there is a lack of public information about their activities."

Comizio added that the recent spate of crypto trading exchange failures, such as FTX's bankruptcy, had "publicly exposed...the contagion that could spread through dozens of other companies as a result."

He added: "This has all resulted in discussion and speculation about a secretive industry with many hidden cross-industry links."

Christian Catalini, founder of the MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab, told Newsweek that while he wasn't sure whether cryptocurrency "is more or less susceptible to conspiracy theories these days than other parts of society, from politics to vaccines," a lack of regulation and responsible financial management had exacerbated damaging headlines.

"There have been dramatic failures within crypto with Luna, FTX as well as some of the other bankruptcies we've seen this year, but that just reflects the low quality and unregulated nature of some of these participants," he said.

In any case, the perceived (and in some cases material) risks inherent in the cryptocurrency business, alongside the notions of distrust some of its proponents foster, have arguably helped create the ideal climate for conspiracy theorizing.

The claims connecting the recent and historical deaths of some of its bigger investors appear to be symptomatic of that and are, at best, based entirely on speculation.

Newsweek has reached out to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Libertex, Amber Group, Bitfinnex'ed, a former associate of Autumn Radtke, and a contact address associated with QuadrigaCX for comment.

Update 12/06/22, 09:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a comment from Vyacheslav Taran's family.

Correction 12/07/22, 8:15 a.m. ET: This article has been amended to state that the newspaper reporting on Mushegian's death is based in Puerto Rico, not Costa Rica. We apologize for the error.