The Founder and CEO of Ava Labs (Avalanche) responded to the “blockchain enthusiasts” group Crypto Leaks’ case study. According to the study they paid off Roche Freedman to stage lawsuits against competitors and distract US regulators. Nonetheless, CEO Emin Gün Sirer quashed the rumors as “conspiracy theory nonsense”.
Emin Gün Sirer dismissed CryptoLeaks’ sensational allegations. According to their article, Roche Freedman, led by founding partner Kyle Roche, has a “secret pact” with blockchain company Ava Labs that “undermines the integrity of the American legal system.”
The case study article from the crypto “whistleblower” also shared video recordings in which Kyle Roche claims that his firm was paid to support Ava Labs and attack its competitors, including Dfinity and Solana.
Roche appears to have claimed in September 2019 that he reached an agreement with Ava Labs and was the first recipient of Ava Labs stock after Andreessen Horowitz. “We did a deal where I agreed to provide legal services in exchange for a certain percentage of the token supply… that was September 2019.”
“I sue half the companies in this space, I know where this market is going, I believe [I am] one of the top 10 [crypto experts] in this world… I’ve seen the insides of every single crypto company,” according to the video recording.
The Crypto Leaks piece made the rounds on Crypto Twitter over the weekend, with reports claiming that Roche ensured the SEC and CFTC had “other magnets [Avalanche competitors]” to go after.
To divert the attention of regulators such as the SEC and CFTC, they aggressively litigated against other actors, accusing them of regulatory violations.
Roche Freedman LLP recently filed a high-profile lawsuit against Solana Labs, Solana Foundation, and Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, as well as a lawsuit against Binance.US for misleading investors and selling Terra tokens illegally.
