Dragonfly partners accuse Eclipse CEO of a history of sexual misconduct allegations
Dragonfly Capital, a crypto VC firm, has decided not to invest in Eclipse due to sexual harassment allegations against its CEO, Neel Somani. Haseeb Qureshi, the managing partner of Dragonfly Capital, made this announcement in a recent post. While conducting due diligence on the L2 solution, Dragonfly discovered a history of sexual harassment surrounding Somani. Qureshi expressed disbelief that other investors were not aware of these allegations. Eclipse is known as Ethereum’s fastest L2 solution and is powered by the Solana Virtual Machine, focusing on privacy, security, and decentralization.
Qureshi also stated that Somani had a long-standing pattern of inappropriate behavior, ranging from misconduct on social media to serious accusations of sexual assault. He criticized the fact that despite these allegations, Somani still received investment and made millions from a pre-launch token. Qureshi found this situation embarrassing.
On the same day, Somani defended himself on X, claiming his innocence and denying any instances of sexual assault. He announced that he would step down from his role as Eclipse’s public face to avoid damaging the team’s reputation. He mentioned that the senior leaders at Eclipse were capable of taking on his responsibilities while investigations into the allegations took place.
Eclipse released a separate statement reaffirming its commitment to maintaining high personal and professional standards, including gender equality and fair treatment. The company assured that it would closely monitor the situation and provide details about the senior members leading Eclipse.
Sam Thapaliya, the co-founder of Eclipse, emphasized the company’s dedication to upholding integrity and accountability throughout its operations.
In related news, Solana, a blockchain platform, has surpassed Ethereum’s L2 solutions. The co-founder of SOL, the native cryptocurrency of Solana, expressed their reaction to this development.
