Russian crypto entrepreneur Alexei Dolgikh dies in high-speed car crash

A controversial Russian cryptocurrency businessman has died as he crashed his $400,000 Lamborghini in the north of Moscow.

The alleged Bitcoin millionaire had amassed hundreds of unpaid traffic fines, authorities say, many of which were imposed for speeding.

Russian crypto figure flips his Lamborghini in Moscow

Crypto entrepreneur Alexei Dolgikh died in a high-speed car crash on a major traffic artery in the Russian capital, local media reported.

Another man has also died, while two more have been hospitalized with severe injuries, as a result of the terrifying road accident, which occurred on Sunday.

The city prosecutor’s office revealed that Dolgikh, who was driving his Lamborghini Urus, “hit an obstacle” on Mezhdunarodnoe Highway after midnight.

He lost control of the luxury SUV, which rolled over and burst into flames, Moscow’s traffic police added, quoted by RBC and RTVI.

According to the Telegram channel Mash, which posted a dash cam video of the aftermath, the Lambo was moving at 150 km/h when the driver failed to negotiate a turn and hit a guardrail.

Other sources, such as Shot, reported that Dolgikh flipped the car upside-down at 100 km/h, which is still double the speed limit at the exit to Leningradskoye Highway.

Parts of the Urus were scattered around the bridge there, after it knocked down a CCTV camera pole. A wad of 5,000-ruble bills was reportedly found near the smashed and burned sports car.

According to Baza, another Telegram channel with ties to Russian security agencies, the 36-year-old Alexei Dolgikh died on the spot. The second deceased person was identified as Ivan Solovyov.

The two injured men were 21-year-old Nikita Tezikov, who suffered an open leg fracture, and 22-year-old Kirill Mochalov, who was taken to Botkin Hospital with multiple fractures.

Dolgikh was in debt, including speeding tickets

The Russian crypto businessman bought the luxury car for 35 million rubles (over $430,000) in August 2024, Baza further unveiled. Since then, he managed to accumulate several hundred traffic fines.

Shot claims the exact number is 586, and “almost all of them were for speeding” while some were for driving unbuckled, according to Mash. Most of the fines were forwarded to the Federal Bailiff Service.

Alexei Dolgikh had around 230 unpaid tickets for a total of more than 1.3 million rubles ($16,000), the TASS news agency reported, citing law enforcement sources. They confirmed the cause of the crash was speeding and also unveiled:

“Dolgikh had a large amount of debt, a significant part of which consists of unpaid traffic fines.”

According to documents seen by TASS, he had 240 enforcement proceedings opened against him, including for traffic fines and loan debts, among other reasons.

Lambo and Russian owner involved in shootout

In September last year, Dolgikh and his Lamborghini were involved in a shootout at a fancy restaurant in Moscow’s affluent residential area in the downtown Presnensky District.

At the time, Shot reported that the expensive vehicle and its owner provided the getaway drive after the incident in the Patriarch’s Ponds park in the Russian capital.

According to the Moskovskiy Komsomolets daily, a group of men started harassing a girl at the Aist restaurant. Another company made a reprimand and then fired a few shots from a pistol at them, before fleeing the scene in the infamous Urus, with Dolgikh at the wheel.

The scandalous crypto businessman was wanted by Russian police for a while and eventually turned himself in, admitting he was there and made a statement, but claiming to have left before the shooting started. Two other men were later arrested and charged with hooliganism.

RTVI highlighted another detail revealed by Shot, which alleged that Dolgikh had been suspected of money laundering and blacklisted by Russian banks.

Alexei Dolgikh’s fatal crash in Moscow is the fourth tragic death to shake the region’s cryptocurrency space in the past few weeks.

Last week, Russian media revealed details about the gruesome murder of alleged crypto scammer Roman Novak and his wife Anna in Dubai, where they were killed by kidnappers in October.

Earlier in November, the founder and chief executive of failed Turkish crypto exchange Thodex, Fatih Özer, was found dead in his prison cell, where he reportedly hanged himself. The apparent suicide has raised questions in Turkey, as reported by Cryptopolitan.