- Elisa Rossi filed a lawsuit towards her ex-husband Stephen Akridge.
- She is in search of millions in withheld staking rewards.
- The case exhibits crypto is turning into a contested asset when {couples} break up.
Stephen Akridge, a co-founder of Solana, allegedly withheld millions of {dollars} in crypto from his ex-wife, in keeping with a lawsuit she filed in California state courtroom on Tuesday.
Elisa Rossi, an Italian citizen who now lives in Rome, and Akridge have been married for nearly 10 years.
The couple had “amassed quite a lot of wealth and property throughout their marriage,” largely from Akridge’s function in the founding of Solana Labs, the corporate that created the Solana blockchain, in keeping with the lawsuit.
In 2023, the couple filed for divorce, in keeping with state courtroom information. In her lawsuit, Rossi claims that the divorce was “acrimonious and extended.”
As a part of the divorce settlement, she was entitled to a portion of the couple’s SOL tokens. The cryptocurrency now boasts a market worth of $90 billion, in keeping with CoinGecko.
Rossi’s Solana was staked, or when cryptocurrencies are held in escrow to safe a blockchain.
In return for not shifting their crypto, stakers obtain curiosity.
Rossi claims that though Akridge appeared to provide her management of her portion of Solana, he didn’t give her the staking rewards, which amounted to “millions of {dollars}.”
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The lawsuit redacts the precise quantities that Akridge allegedly withheld from Rossi.
Akridge didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark by electronic mail, textual content, or by a LinkedIn message.
Rossi’s lawyer didn’t instantly reply to an emailed request for remark.
Key stakeholder
The lawsuit towards Akridge is a uncommon glimpse into the funds of a co-founder of one of many market’s high cryptocurrencies.
Akridge isn’t as seen as Anatoly Yakavenko or Raj Gokal, the opposite two co-founders of Solana Labs.
Nonetheless, he was a key stakeholder who split from Solana Labs in January to launch Anza, a Solana software program developer, together with half of Solana Labs’ employees.
In October, he was appointed CEO of Cyber Grant, a cybersecurity firm.
His divorce dispute additionally displays how crypto has develop into one other supply of battle when {couples} break up up.
In 2023, CNBC reported how a husband allegedly hid $500,000 in Bitcoin from his spouse throughout their divorce.
Rossi mentioned that her former husband equally took benefit of her comparative lack of crypto know-how to pocket her Solana staking rewards.
She “knew little or no concerning the blockchain, cryptocurrencies, or staking,” mentioned the lawsuit.
‘Good luck’
After she came upon that Akridge had withheld Solana from her, she reached out to him greater than a dozen instances between Might and December to ask for her crypto.
At one level, Akridge allegedly laughed in her face, in keeping with the swimsuit. ”Good luck getting these staking rewards from me,” he mentioned.
Ben Weiss is DL News’ Dubai Correspondent. Obtained a tip? E-mail him at bweiss@dlnews.com.
