Solana Labs co-founder accused of hiding ex-wife’s ‘millions of dollars’ in crypto staking gains

Solana Labs co-founder Stephen Akridge is facing a lawsuit accusing him of withholding “millions of dollars” in staking rewards from his ex-wife after their divorce agreement.

Stephen Akridge, co-founder of Solana Labs, is being sued in San Francisco court by his ex-wife, Elisa Rossi, who claims he withheld “millions of dollars” worth of crypto accumulated in staking rewards from Solana (SOL) tokens.

According to Rossi, Akridge gave her control of three crypto wallets as part of their divorce agreement, per court documents first reported by Law.com. However, Akridge allegedly kept the staking rewards for himself by directing SOL tokens to addresses under his control. Rossi says she discovered this two months after the divorce was finalized in March.

“[…] unbeknownst to Ms. Rossi, Mr. Akridge took advantage of the significant disparity in expertise in cryptocurrencies and blockchain that he possessed as the co-founder of Solana and merely gave Ms. Rossi’s Solana wallet authority over three accounts that contained the Solana tokens.”

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough

Rossi claims that when she asked for the rewards, Akridge refused, even mocking her and saying, “Good luck getting those staking rewards from me,” the report reads. The case includes claims of fraud, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment.

Rossi seeks an order from the court for actual and compensatory damages, the amount to be determined at trial. She is also requesting punitive or statutory exemplary damages, as well as pre-judgment and post-judgment interest at the maximum legal rate.