Crypto ownership: the newest tool in Silicon Valley’s divorce proceedings

Divorce is of course never fun, but when it comes to Silicon Valley millionaires and their wives, it’s somewhat interesting to see how these things will play out for you and me in the future. Crypto ownership seems set to become a new bargaining chip for lawyers.

A founder of the Solana blockchain named Stephen Akridge is currently being sued in San Francisco by his ex-wife, Elena Rossi. She claims that he mismanaged her crypto portfolio during the divorce and that she therefore lost out on millions of dollars as a result. The couple divorced in early 2023, when Solana was trading at $20. In 2024 things are a bit different for Solana, of course.

Divorce and Bitcoins

Arguments about the ownership of crypto and the purchase of Bitcoins by American millionaires to hide their true wealth are nothing new (this already happened in 2023), but if you divorce one of the founders of Solana, we’re talking a whole new ballgame of course.

Law.com was able to look at several court documents and they show that Akridge (who previously worked at Qualcomm until he founded the Solana blockchain together with 4 others in 2018) was the manager of his ex-wife’s crypto portfolio (until the moment of their divorce). During the divorce proceedings, she agreed to ‘only’ want 25% of her husband’s assets, because he agreed to a quick procedure.

However, when her lawyer found out that Stephen Akridge had also staked the Solana coins that Elena Rossi owned but ultimately did not transfer the proceeds of that staking to her crypto wallet, she realized that she had lost out on several millions of dollars. Rossi has therefore started new legal proceedings. As Solana is now trading at more than 200 dollars per coin (and was only trading at around 20 dollars at the time of their divorce), Akridge is of course worth a bit more.

To be continued undoubtedly (and read in the United States by all women of Silicon Valley CEOs, I believe).