Sexual misconduct allegations lead the founder of Ethereum Layer 2 chain “Eclipse” to resign

Neel Somani, the founder and CEO of Ethereum scaling company Eclipse, said on Thursday that he would be stepping down from his role as the company’s “public face” in response to a recent series of sexual misconduct allegations.

“In the last week, serious allegations have been made against me on Twitter,” Somani said in one Post on X (formerly Twitter). “These allegations are false, but serious allegations of sexual misconduct require a serious and thoughtful response.”

“I will be temporarily reducing my role as the public face of Eclipse,” he wrote. “Eclipse’s leaders are well-equipped to assume this responsibility and this will allow these conversations to unfold and the truth about these allegations to emerge.”

Somani did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Eclipse posted a separate statement Its official X account says it “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 telling the truth,” the company wrote.

Eclipse is a Layer 2 blockchain scaling project on Ethereum. March, the company announced that it has raised $50 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Placeholder and Hack VC, bringing the company’s total raised to $65 million.