tl;dr
Solana co-founder Stephen Akridge is facing allegations from his ex-wife, Elisa Rossi, regarding the misappropriation of significant gains from Solana (SOL) tokens. Rossi claims that Akridge used his expertise in crypto and blockchain to siphon off staking rewards from her digital wallet, resulting ...
Solana co-founder Stephen Akridge is accused of misappropriating his ex-wife's crypto gains, leading to a legal dispute over alleged siphoning of staking rewards from her digital wallet, resulting in financial losses and a lawsuit. His ex-wife, Elisa Rossi, claims that Akridge used his expertise in crypto and blockchain to siphon off staking rewards from her digital wallet, causing her to lose "millions of dollars" in income. The exact value of the disputed tokens remains undisclosed, described as "significant" by Rossi.
The legal dispute includes allegations of breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and fraud, following the couple's divorce filing in February 2023. Akridge and Solana Labs have not publicly commented on the matter. Additionally, the article discusses the growth of liquid staking on Solana, highlighting its potential for boosting yields using proxy tokens generated through staking.
Stephen Akridge, co-founder of Solana, is embroiled in a legal dispute with his ex-wife, Elisa Rossi, over the alleged misappropriation of substantial gains from Solana (SOL) tokens. Rossi claims that Akridge used his advanced expertise in crypto and blockchain to siphon off staking rewards from her digital wallet, resulting in her losing "millions of dollars" in income. She further alleged that Akridge controlled her accounts from early March to mid-May and reaped 100% of the staking commissions allocated to her SOL holdings.
While the exact value of the disputed tokens remains undisclosed, Rossi has described the sums as "significant" and requested portions of the complaint be kept confidential. Solana Labs and attorneys representing Akridge and Rossi have not commented publicly. Akridge was a principal engineer at Solana and played a key role in developing the blockchain platform alongside co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal. Before his involvement in Solana, Akridge worked at Qualcomm Inc. He is now the CEO of Cyber Grant, a California-based cybersecurity firm. The couple filed for divorce in February 2023 after a decade of marriage.
Rossi’s lawsuit alleges breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and fraud and seeks damages for the financial losses she claims to have incurred.
According to different platforms, staking SOL tokens grants an annual percentage yield (APY) ranging from 5.6% to 12%. However, users boost their yields using liquid staking platforms, as the total value locked (TVL) on Jito suggests. The protocol is the largest on Solana by TVL, approaching $2.7 billion per DeFiLlama data. The liquid staking market represents roughly 50% of Solana’s entire TVL. Liquid staking gives the user a proxy token in the same amount allocated in staking, in addition to the platform’s APY. As a result, the new token generated can be used on different decentralized finance protocols, boosting potential rewards.