Early Bitcoin investor Mircea Popescu drowned in the Pacific Ocean off the Costa Rican coast. Trustnodes reports, citing the local Department of Judicial Investigations (OIJ).
The incident occurred in the morning of June 23 at Playa Hermosa in Puntarenas Province. According to available information, the man entered the water for a swim, but was swept away by a current.
The OIJ identified the 41-year-old deceased as Mircea Popescu. The agency noted his Polish origin, though Popescu was румыном.
Смерть Попеску was confirmed by the partner of the crypto fund Adamant Capital Тур Демеестер and web developer Диана Коман.
Mircea Popescu began taking an interest in Bitcoin as early as 2012, and in April launched his own exchange MPEx, registration for which cost 30 BTC.
Popescu was regarded as one of the most conservative supporters of the first cryptocurrency – he opposed any changes to its protocol. In 2015 he offered $500 in digital assets «за голову» of developer Peter Velle, who advocated increasing Bitcoin’s block size.
He also claimed responsibility for The DAO hack in 2016, in which 3.6 million ETH (about $50 million at the time) were stolen. He explained his act as an attempt to demonstrate the «centralisation of Ethereum’s blockchain».
According to acquaintances of Popescu in 2016, his accounts held about 1 million BTC (about $1 billion at the time).
Mircea Popescu was one of the people I referred to as the «sleeping giants»
Guys enough btc to do whatever they wanted in life. could sell btc to factually 0 on a whim and keep it there for a while but now a days happy to sit on the side lines and comment when needed
— i.am.nomad (@IamNomad) June 27, 2021
«Мирча Попеску был одним из тех, кого я называю «спящими гигантами». У парня было столько биткоинов, чтобы делать в жизни все, что ему заблагорассудится. Он мог в один момент обвалить биткоин фактически до нуля и удерживать цену некоторое время. Он вызывал мало симпатий, но заложил основы того, что мы имеем сегодня», – написал анонимный маркетмейкер под ником i.am.nomad.
Others believe Popescu overstated the volume of his cryptocurrency holdings, and they did not exceed 300 000 BTC.
There is no information on the exact amount of Popescu’s bitcoins or his possible heirs.
As reported, last week 75-year-old entrepreneur John McAfee was found dead in a Spanish prison. Hours earlier the Supreme Court had allowed his extradition to the United States. According to his lawyer, McAfee committed suicide.
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