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- Neel Somani, the founder of Eclipse, has been accused of sexual harassment.
- Somani maintained his innocence, adding that he never sexually assaulted anyone.
- Somani is stepping down as the public face of Eclipse.
Neel Somani, the founder of Eclipse, Ethereum’s fastest L2 solution powered by the Solana Virtual Machine, focused on privacy, security, and decentralization, has faced allegations of misconduct, ranging from inappropriate social media conduct to serious accusations of sexual assault.
Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at crypto VC firm Dragonfly Capital, stated in an X post that his company passed on investing in Eclipse while conducting due diligence on the L2 solution. During the process, Dragonfly found a history of sexual harassment surrounding Somani.
Qureshi concluded that the fact that Somani received funding and successfully sold millions in secondary for a pre-launch token despite his history is “embarrassing.”
On the other hand, Somani maintained his innocence, stating that he had never sexually assaulted a woman. He said that he’ll quit his role as the “public face” for Eclipse because it wouldn’t be fair to the team and the L2 solution “to have this situation weighing on their reputations,” adding:
“I’ll be temporarily reducing my role as a public face for Eclipse. The senior leaders at Eclipse are well equipped to take on these responsibilities and this will allow these conversations to unfold and the truth to emerge about these allegations.”
Further, in a statement, Eclipse stated that it “remains committed to maintaining the highest personal and professional standards, including gender equality and fair treatment.” The firm will closely monitor the situation and reveal details about the other senior members who are leading Eclipse.Eclipse co-founder Sam Thapaliya commented that his firm is “committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accountability” in all its operations.
The post Eclipse Founder Distances Himself from the Firm Amid Allegations of Sexual Misconduct appeared first on Coin Edition.