The cryptocurrency blogger and YouTuber known as Pavel Nyashin has been found dead in his St Petersburg apartment according to Russian media sources.

Reports seem to suggest there is as yet no evidence of outside intervention. An investigation into the cause of death has been opened.

The death of the 23-year old self-made crypto millionaire follows an incident in which he was assaulted during a robbery of his home in Leningrad Oblast at the beginning of the year. The home invaders tied up and beat Nyashin and stole a safe containing around 24 million Rubles ($425,000) as well as ‘essential documents’.

Nyashin subsequently moved back in with his mother into an apartment in a St Petersburg suburb, which is where his body was discovered.

Nyashin had openly and boastfully discussed his wealth online which is believed to be why he was targeted by robbers in January. The YouTuber had over 19,000 subscribers on the platform, although new material has not been uploaded in the last 3 months.

Russia has borne witness to other incidents of violence associated with cryptocurrency in recent times. The creator of the cryptocurrency PRISM, Yury Mayorov was kidnapped in Moscow in February and robbed of 300 bitcoin.

Russian citizen Pavel Lerner and managing director of the crypto exchange EXMO was similarly kidnapped in Kiev in December 2017 and only released after a bitcoin ransom equal to over $1m was paid.

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