4 min read · Feb 6, 2024
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The idyllic calm of Bali was shattered in May 2023, as the crypto-billionaire couple Li Chiming and Cheng Jianan met with a grisly fate, their murders painting a cautionary tale about the dangers of flaunting cryptocurrency wealth.
Authorities stumbled upon a scene from a horror story: Li Chiming strangled with her pajamas in a bathtub, and Cheng Jianan, brutally beaten, desperately seeking help. Oddly, the couple had booked multiple hotel rooms for the same night, suggesting a deep-seated fear for their safety.
The brutality inflicted upon Cheng, with wounds from a broken beer bottle, and the strangulation of Li, signaled more than just murder; it was a deliberate act of terror. The calculated viciousness of the act pointed to a message meant to instill fear far and wide.
Cheng Jianan was not merely a crypto investor but a prominent player with a net worth in the hundreds of millions. The murky depths of his crypto dealings, allegedly involving theft from a shadowy laundering operation, hinted at a sinister motive behind the couple’s targeted assassination.
With Bali and Chinese authorities piecing together the puzzle, suspicions have fallen on hotel staff, and there’s speculation of a financial incentive behind the heinous crime. The case casts a long shadow over the crypto world, illustrating the lethal danger that can accompany conspicuous wealth.
The ongoing probe into Li and Cheng’s untimely deaths unravels the hidden dangers in the cryptocurrency world, where displaying affluence can lead to dire consequences. As layers of this complex case are peeled away, the haunting story underscores a stark warning: in the volatile realm of cryptocurrency, secrecy can be a lifeline.
Over the past year, the cryptoverse has undergone seismic shifts, with significant figures toppling and new ones rising, amid an alarming spate of violence and death associated with the cryptocurrency sector. The period has been marked by a disturbing increase in mysterious deaths connected to the digital currency space.
The cryptocurrency market experienced a significant downturn, with its capitalization falling below $1 trillion, reaching a low not seen in nearly two years. This decline coincided with the first in a string of enigmatic fatalities, starting with the drowning of MakerDAO’s Nikolai Mushegian in Puerto Rico. The death toll continued with Javier Biosca’s fatal fall in Spain, and Tiantian Kullander, founder of Amber Group, dying in his sleep in Hong Kong. The year concluded with the helicopter crash of Russian billionaire Vyacheslav Taran in France and Park Mo of Bithumb’s largest shareholder committing suicide in Seoul.
The grim tally continued into the following year, with the stabbing of MobileCoin’s Bob Lee in San Francisco, and the slaying of a crypto entrepreneur in Seoul’s Gangnam district. In Bali, the young crypto trader Li Chiming and his influencer girlfriend Cheng Jianan met a brutal end. Later, OnfoCoin’s John Forsyth was discovered shot dead in an Arkansas lake.
The aftermath of the FTX crash last November sent shockwaves through the crypto market, leading to widespread trade, investment, and lending repercussions. Amber Group was forced to halt its funding round and significantly cut staff, while Bithumb’s Vidente suffered a severe drop in share value.
The personal lives of several victims, often flaunted on social media, shared a troubling pattern. From Javier Biosca’s opulent celebrations to Fernando Perez Algaba’s vast Instagram following, and from Li Chiming and Cheng Jianan’s perfect social media partnership to Christian Peev’s opulent life ending in tragedy, ostentation seemed a common thread. Bob Lee’s indulgent lifestyle also had fatal consequences.
These individuals, each a high-profile millionaire through early cryptocurrency investments, mining, trading, or founding startups, reflected the volatile ascent of cryptocurrency value. According to the World’s Crypto Wealth Report, a small but notable number of people have amassed significant digital asset wealth.
While the link between cryptocurrencies and these deaths is clear, the assets themselves were not always the direct cause, with cold wallets frequently remaining intact at the scenes. Nevertheless, the past year has seen an alarming number of individuals linked to digital currencies perish, casting a shadow over the crypto world in the wake of the FTX crash. This raises an unsettling question: is this dark trend set to continue?
