Solana co-founder sued by ex-wife for multimillion-dollar SOL.
Solana founder Stephen Akridge was sued by his ex-wife, who accused him of secretly receiving rewards from the blockchain token pool.
Akridge was hit with a lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court on December 24 by Elisa Rossi, who claims her ex-husband “made millions of dollars” from Solana (SOL) tokens she claims are mine.
The complaint alleges that Akridge was the chief engineer at Solana Labs after helping to found the company in 2018. He is now the CEO of CyberGrant, a cyber security company.
Rossi's lawsuit says the couple's March divorce settlement split ownership of SOL, but Rossi Akridge “used the high volatility in cryptocurrencies to control the tokens and continue to receive huge rewards from them.”
The complaint alleges that Akridge “granted Ms. Rossi Solana wallet authority over three accounts containing Solana Tokens,” allowing him to continue to secretly hold Ms. Rossi's Solana Tokens and reap the rewards of millions without Ms. Rossi's knowledge. Deceit in May 2024”
The number of SOL tokens issued and the amount allegedly stolen are redacted in the complaint, but it notes that the sum is more than $25,000, and the accompanying filing cites the “significant sums at issue” in a request to unseal portions of the lawsuit.
An excerpt from Rossi's lawsuit blacked out the number and value of SOL tokens. Source: San Francisco Superior Court
SOL hit an all-time high of $263 last month and has still gained more than 80% this year to trade at $194.
Solana users can earn more SOL by staking, where SOL is locked, used to verify blockchain transactions.
Related: The Return of Crypto: Victory over Chaos in 2024
In her complaint, Rosie said between May and December, she sent “less than a dozen” text messages to Akridge about her stolen stock awards.
The lawsuit alleges Akridge “made it clear he had no intention of returning Ms. Rossi's savings rewards to her, at one point laughing in her face, saying, ‘Good luck getting those rewards from me.'
Akridge did not immediately respond to a request for comment on LinkedIn. CyberGrant has been contacted for comment. Information about Akridge's attorneys was not available at the time of writing.
Magazine: Where Solana's Critics Get Right…and Get It Wrong
