A legal battle has erupted between Stephen Akridge, a co-founder of Solana, a prominent blockchain platform, and his former wife, Elisa Rossi. The dispute centers on allegations that Akridge misappropriated significant profits from a cache of Solana (SOL) tokens, one of the leading cryptocurrencies by market value.
Rossi’s lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, accuses Akridge of exploiting her lack of expertise in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. She claims that he siphoned “millions of dollars” in staking rewards—income generated by pledging crypto assets to validate blockchain transactions.
The complaint alleges that Akridge controlled Rossi’s digital wallet accounts from March to mid-May, during which he purportedly collected all the staking rewards from SOL tokens allocated to her. Rossi is seeking damages on multiple counts, including fraud, unjust enrichment, and breach of contract.
While the exact value of the disputed tokens is redacted in the lawsuit, Rossi’s filing describes the sums involved as substantial and requests the court to keep parts of the complaint confidential.
Solana, which had previously faced setbacks due to its ties with the failed FTX exchange and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has seen a remarkable resurgence. After falling below $10 in the wake of FTX’s collapse, Solana has reestablished itself as one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies.
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Akridge, a former principal engineer at Solana and a former Qualcomm Inc. employee, worked closely with the platform’s co-founders, Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal. He is now the CEO of Cyber Grant Inc., a California-based cybersecurity company. Neither Solana Labs nor attorneys representing Akridge and Rossi have commented on the case.
The lawsuit follows the couple’s divorce filing in February 2023, marking the end of their 10-year marriage. Rossi accuses Akridge of capitalizing on his technological expertise to divert funds rightfully hers, deepening the rift in their already contentious separation.
The case is filed under Rossi v. Akridge, CGC-24-620900 in California Superior Court, San Francisco County.