Bitcoin Firm CEO Dead in Suspected Suicide

American Autumn Radtke found dead in Singapore
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 6, 2014 3:09 AM CST
Updated Mar 6, 2014 6:33 AM CST
Bitcoin Firm CEO Dead in Suspected Suicide
Bitcoin buttons are displayed on a table at the Inside Bitcoins conference in Berlin.   (AP Photo/Frank Jordans)

Police in Singapore are probing what they call the "unnatural death" of an American woman who ran a firm dealing in bitcoins and other virtual currencies. Autumn Radtke, 28, was found dead in her apartment in what local media say was a suicide, reports the New York Post. Officials are waiting for the results of toxicology tests. Radtke, who moved to Singapore in 2012, worked for tech start-ups in California before joining the First Meta exchange, where she was known as one of the few women in the bitcoin community. In a post on its homepage, First Meta called Radtke "an inspiration to all of us" who "will be sorely missed."

The virtual currency has had some well-publicized problems lately, include the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange, but associates say First Meta's exposure to bitcoins was relatively light and they don't believe the currency was a factor in her death. "This wasn't a bitcoin-related death," says the founder of Singapore-based firm GoCoin, who was one of the last people to see Radtke alive. "She had other things going on in her life," he tells Reuters. "Collectively, there were a lot of small factors ... It appears she picked a permanent solution to a lot of short-term problems." (More bitcoin stories.)

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