Hailed Flow for ‘Visionary’ Crypto Contributor Nikolai Mushegian
- Nikolai Mushegian was found by rescue personnel after reportedly being swept away by strong currents on a Condado beach
- He played a crucial role in many of Ethereum’s most vital innovations across DeFi
Members of the crypto community are paying tribute to Nikolai Mushegian, a longtime contributor to the ecosystem and one of the co-founders of MakerDAO, who passed away last Friday.
According to local media, Mushegian (reported as “Muchgian”) was swept by strong currents onto a beach in Condado, Puerto Rico behind Ashford Hospital in the country’s northeast. Rescue personnel were able to recover the body, although no vital signs were present.
Mushegian was a resident of San Juan, according to local authorities who were alerted to the incident after it was reported at 9:15 a.m. ET.
The 29-year-old developer is best remembered for his work on several industry projects, including MakerDAO forks Rico and Rai, as well as automated market maker Balancer, among others.
“Nikolai was a crucial part of many of Ethereum’s most vital innovations, including DeFi and DAOs,” former Ethereum Foundation employee Hudson Jameson told Blockworks. “Many today reflect on his innovative spirit and kind heart. He will be deeply missed in our community.”
Tributes for Mushegian have begun pouring in across social media by those who remember his early involvement in decentralized finance and developing building blocks known as primitives.
Mushegian was too known as a brilliant visionary for his work on smart contracts and blockchains in their early stages of development.
“Nikolai was one of the only people in the early days of Ethereum and smart contracts who was able to predict the possibility of smart contract hacks and invented the security-oriented approach to smart contract design we know today,” MakerDAO co-founder Rune Christensen tweeted. “Maker would have been toast without him.”
Christensen and Mushegian worked side by side on MakerDAO, in addition to various other projects, including Maker spin-off DappHub – a repository for blockchain developer tools.
Although they respected each other, the pair reportedly disagreed on how the project should be run. It eventually led to Mushegian leaving Maker. The protocol’s initial token was launched shortly after and a development fund was created.
Former MakerDAO CTO Andy Milenius, like Christensen, knew and worked closely with Mushegian during the early years of Ethereum in 2015 and 2016.
“I will always be inspired by your fierce commitment to the truth, even when others do not yet understand. Rest in peace Nikolai,” Milenius tweeted.
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Sebastian Sinclair
Blockwork
Senior Reporter, Asia News Desk
