Ethereum
Sexual misconduct allegations led founder of Ethereum Layer-2 chain “Eclipse” to step back
Neel Somani, founder and CEO of Ethereum scaling company Eclipse, said Thursday he will step down from his role as the company’s “public face” in response to a recent series of misconduct allegations sexual.
“Serious allegations were made against me on Twitter last week,” Somani said in a statement. post on (formerly Twitter). “These allegations are false, but serious allegations of sexual misconduct warrant a serious and thoughtful response.”
“I will be temporarily reducing my role as the public face of Eclipse,” he wrote. “Eclipse’s senior leadership is well-equipped to take on these responsibilities, which will allow these conversations to take place and the truth to emerge about these allegations.”
Somani did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Eclipse released a separate declaration on his official X account, saying he “remains committed to maintaining the highest personal and professional standards, including gender equality and fair treatment.”
“The team takes the allegations against our CEO, Neel Somani, seriously and believes in the importance of the truth,” the company wrote.
Eclipse is a layer 2 blockchain scaling project on Ethereum. In March, the company disclosed that it raised $50 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Placeholder and Hack VC, bringing the total amount raised by the company to $65 million.