CEO of Ethereum L2 Eclipse faces sexual misconduct allegations

Neel Somani, founder and CEO of the Ethereum layer 2 blockchain Eclipse, announced that he is “temporarily reducing” his public role. Per a May 9 post, this decision was made amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

Clearing the air around these accusations on X, Somani stated, 

“Serious allegations have been made against me on Twitter in the last week. These allegations are false.” 

He emphasized, “I never sexually assaulted or harassed any woman,” and declared his intent to “defend” himself and “clear” his name. 

According to Somani, his stepping back would allow “these conversations to unfold” and “the truth to emerge” about the allegations.

Eclipse team will lead the way

The Eclipse CEO also expressed his confidence in the capabilities of Eclipse’s senior leadership during his time away. He remarked they are “well equipped” to effectively manage the firm during his absence.

Responding to the situation, Eclipse issued a statement on May 9 via an X post. 

The team affirmed they take the accusations “seriously” and are committed to upholding the highest standards of conduct. The post also mentioned the company’s dedication to “gender equality and fair treatment.”

Strategic advancements amid challenges

The controversy arose just after Eclipse Labs successfully raised $50 million in a Series A funding round, elevating its total capital to $65 million. 

The funding round, co-led by Placeholder and Hack VC, included notable participants like Polychain Capital, Delphi Digital, and Maven 11, among others. Strategic contributions came from Flow Traders, GSR, Apollo Global Management, and OKX Ventures.

Earlier, the firm launched the mainnet of its Ethereum layer 2 in September 2023.

In other news, developments around layer 2 solutions for Ethereum have seen a massive uptick over the past year. Most recently, cryptocurrency exchange OKX launched X Layer, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, on its public mainnet.

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