Eclipse’s CEO Departs Due to Sexual Assault Allegations

Neel Somani, the founder of Ethereum layer-2 protocol Eclipse, has left the position of chief executive officer of Eclipse Labs following sexual assault allegations brought against him.

According to a tweet by Eclipse’s X account, Vijay Chetty, the firm’s chief growth officer, will become CEO immediately following Somani’s departure.

Eclipse Labs said Chetty will handle the responsibilities of CEO with more than a decade of experience at several crypto firms, including Uniswap Labs, Ripple Labs, and dYdX Trading, as well as the world’s largest asset management firm, BlackRock.

Somani Accused of Sexual Misconduct

Last week, Somani took to X to debunk accusations of sexual assault brought against him. He claimed the allegations were false; however, such assertions about sexual misconduct warranted a serious response.

The Eclipse founder insisted that he had never sexually assaulted or harassed any woman and was prepared to defend his reputation. He stated that it would be unfair to the Eclipse ecosystem and investors to have the situation weighing on their reputations while he worked to prove the falsehood of the claims. Hence, he would temporarily reduce his role as a public face for Eclipse. 

Accompanying Somani’s response to the allegations was a tweet from the Eclipse team, which stated that the firm took the accusations seriously and believed in the importance of truth. As a result, Eclipse would share more details about the background of its leaders to earn the community’s trust.

What Are The Allegations Against Somani?

Multiple women on X have come forward claiming that Somani either groped or sent inappropriate text messages to them. Pseudonymous crypto trader Beach Mojito made a post in late April urging women to stay away from the Eclipse founder as his sexual assault history was becoming open knowledge in the crypto industry.

From Beach Mojito’s post, it could be deciphered that Somani may have allegedly put his head on a lady’s lap despite her refusal, asked another to have a business meeting in his room, and fed another he just met food against their will.

“Being a guy with dick and 50mio support from VC doesn’t make you immune or get away with it. Also this is fucking crypto, you don’t be the king on twitter forever. You can go to jail,” the crypto trader stated.