Solana Pioneer sued his ex-wife over millions in crypto returns

(Bloomberg) — The co-founder of Solana, one of the world’s largest blockchain platforms, is locked in a legal battle with his ex-wife over gains from a stash of lucrative SOL tokens.

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His ex-wife, Elisa Rossi, accused Stephen Akridge in a lawsuit of stealing “millions of dollars” of income generated from her holdings in her digital wallet Solana, the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Akridge “exploited the significant disparity in cryptocurrency and blockchain expertise he possessed” and surreptitiously obtained so-called Rossi bounties, according to a complaint filed this week in San Francisco Superior Court. Staking refers to the practice of staking crypto assets to validate blockchain transactions and earn more tokens.

Solana has recently been one of the hottest digital assets. It was closely linked to entrepreneur Sam Bankman Fried and his trading firm Alameda Research, and saw its price fall below $10 after the FTX exchange collapsed. But Solana has since re-emerged as one of the best performing coins among cryptocurrencies.

The value of the tokens at issue in the lawsuit was redacted, though Rossi cited “significant amounts” in a motion he filed with the court to keep parts of the complaint confidential.

Solana Labs, the developer of the blockchain platform, and attorneys for Akridge and Rossi did not respond to requests for comment. Akridge did not respond to a request for comment sent to Cyber ​​Grant Inc., a California-based cybersecurity company that announced his appointment as CEO in October.

Akridge, who came from Qualcomm according to Rossi’s complaint, served as Solana’s lead architect and worked alongside the platform’s other founders, Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal.

The dispute began after Akridge and Rossi filed for divorce in February 2023 after 10 years of marriage, according to the complaint. In the lawsuit, Rossi accuses Akridge of stealing her bonuses, and is seeking damages for claims including breach of contract, unjust enrichment and fraud.

It says that from early March to mid-May “the accounts were operated and controlled by Mr. Akridge who was receiving 100% of the commission on SOL tokens allocated to Ms. Rossi.”

The case is Rossi v. Akridge, CGC-24-620900, Supreme Court of California, San Francisco District.

–With the help of Muyao Shen.

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