Solana's co-founder Stephen Akridge and ex-wife Elisa Rossi are in court over financial disputes. Elisa Rossi accuses Stephen Akridge of illegally appropriating and staking the Solana cryptocurrency SOL in her crypto wallet, but he has not given her a single cent of the millions of dollars in staking rewards.
Elisa Rossi is Italian, currently living in Rome, and has been married to Akridge for nearly 10 years. According to a lawsuit filed in California court on Tuesday, Solana's co-founder withheld millions of dollars in reward currency from his ex-wife. Elisa Rossi is suing Stephen Akridge to reclaim the earnings.
This couple accumulated a large amount of wealth and assets during their marriage, with joint property mainly due to Akridge's role as a co-founder in Solana Labs. State court records show that in 2023, this couple filed for divorce in court. According to California law, the couple's property and debts are jointly owned, and divorcing couples typically need to hire a lawyer to protect their financial interests.
Elisa Rossi filed for divorce, claiming she is entitled to the token rewards. Rossi stated that her ex-husband exploited her lack of understanding of cryptocurrency to pocket all the staking rewards from her Solana.
Who is Stephen Akridge
Stephen Akridge is a software engineer who, before the news broke, was not as prominent as the other two founders of Solana Labs, Anatoly Yakavenko or Raj Gokal. He left Solana Labs in January this year, taking 45 employees with him to co-found Anza, but he remains a significant stakeholder in Solana. In October, he was appointed CEO of cybersecurity company Cyber Grant.
Akridge's ex-wife Rossi claims that when she discovered her Solana was staked, she contacted Akridge multiple times to request its return, but her ex laughed and said: Good luck, you got my staking rewards.
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This article, Crypto family: The dramatic divorce dispute of Solana's co-founder, first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.
