A publicity stunt encouraging "crypto enthusiasts" to climb Mount Everest and bury a hard drive holding $50,000 worth of cryptocurrency reportedly indirectly led to a man's death, the Financial Times said Friday.

Ukrainian social network ASKfm, which is planning to raise money through an initial coin offering, or ICO, sponsored four people to climb Everest and bury the hard drive holding its digital tokens, which at this point have no proven value.

In the process, one of the local Nepalese Sherpas accompanying the group died, according to a blog of Alan Arnette, a Colorado climber who covers Everest events each season. He mentioned the Ukrainian group under the subhead: "Preventable Deaths."