His fortune may be lost forever if no one has access to his account.
Bitcoin billionaire Mircea Popescu, 41, died on June 23 in Costa Rica, according to reports.
Popescu, who made his fortune in Bitcoin, is leaving behind a cryptocurrency wealth that could be worth as much as $2 billion, according to the New York Post.
Popescu drowned last week off the coast of Costa Rica near Playa Hermosa after going for a morning swim, according to local news outlet Teletica.
His death was apparently confirmed by three women who were close to him, according to the New York Post. However, others have raised questions over whether he’s actually dead.
The blog that Popescu managed, Trilema, has not been updated since the day he was reported dead.
Popescu was known at one point to be among the largest individual holders of Bitcoin in the world, the Post reported. It remains unclear if anyone has access to his digital assets. If not, his fortune could be lost forever.
Popescu, known as "the father of bitcoin toxicity," launched a bitcoin securities exchange called MPEx in 2012, according to Bitcoin magazine.
"The website was once an early breeding ground for early bitcoin IPOs, a practice that earned him the ire of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, an agency whose power he took no shortage of joy in openly undermining," Bitcoin magazine said.
Popescu was a controversial figure, according to Business Insider.
He had "an aggressive brand of unapologetic bitcoin evangelism that made his influence enduring despite documented instances of sexism, bigotry and anti-Semitism," Bitcoin Magazine said.
