Solana Co-Founder Apologizes for Controversial Ad, Vows to Stay True to Mission

Solana Labs co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko has addressed the controversy surrounding the blockchain network’s recently deleted ad. The advertisement, which aimed to promote the upcoming Solana Accelerate conference, faced harsh criticism for its portrayal of gender issues. The ad, now taken down, sparked backlash from the community, especially for its tone-deaf approach to gender identity. The Solana team has since been forced to manage the aftermath, with investors and users questioning the impact on the project’s public image.

Yakovenko responded to the backlash in a post on X, expressing his regret for the lack of sensitivity in the ad and for not considering how such content could hurt minority groups. He acknowledged the mistake and admitted that he initially minimized the situation and did not speak out about it as it deserved. Yakovenko also expressed gratitude to the developers and artists in the Solana ecosystem who openly criticized the ad, both publicly and privately, for their collaboration in pointing out such content.

Yakovenko sought to cool down the tensions, stating that Solana Labs would keep true to its objectives: decentralization and open-source software. He noted that the Solana Foundation would not interfere with culture wars and would stick to the principles on which Solana was established. This response aimed to reassure the community that the incident would not derail the project's core mission.

The ad was widely regarded as provocative as it presented a character called “America” speaking about ideas of invention during a therapy session. Instead of giving him theories about technological development, the therapist advised him to stick to matters like gender and pronoun. The ad concluded with the character stating that he was going to ‘invent technologies not genders. The depiction was considered by many as being sexist and an awkward response to the present culture and political correctness.

The response was immediate, with many people in the crypto-sphere expressing their disgust on social networks. Some of the critics felt that the ad was vulgar and insensitive towards some of the vices in the society towards Solana. Subsequently, the company removed the video, however, by that time the video had received millions of viewers and thousands of comments. Some questioned the Solana marketing team for not thinking past such a message, especially during the current political climate of gender issues.