Stephen Akridge, co-founder of Solana and former principal engineer at Solana Labs, is facing a lawsuit filed by his ex-wife, Elisa Rossi, in San Francisco Superior Court. The legal complaint, submitted on Dec. 24, accuses Akridge of secretly profiting from staking rewards on Solana (SOL) tokens Rossi claims as her own.

Rossi alleges that Akridge earned "millions of dollars in staking rewards" without her knowledge by maintaining control over her SOL tokens. According to the complaint, the couple’s March divorce settlement divided ownership of their SOL holdings. However, Rossi asserts that Akridge exploited her lack of expertise in cryptocurrencies to retain effective control of the tokens and continue profiting from staking rewards.

The lawsuit claims Akridge provided Rossi’s Solana wallet with authority over three accounts containing SOL tokens but secretly continued staking the assets. This arrangement allegedly allowed him to earn substantial rewards until Rossi discovered the issue in May 2024.

In her complaint, Rossi claimed that between May and December, she sent “no less than a dozen” text messages to Akridge regarding the staking rewards. The suit alleges that Akridge “made clear he had no interest in returning Ms. Rossi’s staking rewards to her,” at one point laughing in her face and saying, “Good luck getting those staking rewards from me.”

While the specific number of SOL tokens and the total amount allegedly misappropriated remain redacted in the complaint, accompanying filings indicate that the disputed sum exceeds $25,000. Additionally, Rossi’s legal team emphasized the "significant sums at issue" in their request to seal portions of the lawsuit.

Akridge co-founded Solana Labs in 2018 and currently serves as the CEO of the cybersecurity company Cyber Grant. His role at Solana was instrumental in establishing the blockchain, which has seen significant adoption in 2024, driven by trends such as memecoins. SOL reached an all-time high of $263 in November and has gained over 80% this year, trading at $194 at the time of reporting.

Solana’s staking mechanism allows users to lock up SOL tokens to validate blockchain transactions, earning additional SOL as rewards. Rossi claims that Akridge’s actions deprived her of rightful earnings from these staking activities.

The case sheds light on the complexities of asset division in the emerging field of cryptocurrency, where technical expertise can play a pivotal role in disputes.