Solana CEO Issues Apology for Advertisement Criticized as Discriminatory

TLDR

• Solana Labs co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko apologized for a controversial advertisement that targeted marginalized groups
• The “America is Back — Time to Accelerate” ad was criticized for political messaging around gender identity
• The advertisement was deleted within nine hours but had already gained over one million views
• Yakovenko committed to keeping Solana focused on decentralization and software development rather than cultural debates
• Critics pointed out that transgender developers have made significant contributions to cryptography and open-source software

Solana Labs co-founder and CEO Anatoly Yakovenko has issued a public apology following widespread criticism of an advertisement that many viewed as targeting marginalized groups. The controversy has prompted discussions about inclusivity within the cryptocurrency community.

The advertisement, titled “America is Back — Time to Accelerate,” was posted on March 17 to promote the upcoming Solana Accelerate conference. It depicted the United States as a man in therapy who expressed desires to focus on technological innovations like cryptocurrency.

In the two-and-a-half-minute video, a therapist suggested the man should do “something more productive, like coming up with a new gender” and later advised him to “focus on pronouns.” The man responded that he wanted “to invent technologies, not genders.”

The ad quickly drew criticism for injecting political discourse into the cryptocurrency space. Many community members expressed disappointment, particularly as it came just nine days after Solana’s social media account had posted “Solana is for everyone.”

Within nine hours of its release, the Solana Foundation deleted the video. By that time, however, it had already garnered over one million views and more than 1,300 comments.

On March 19, Yakovenko addressed the situation in a social media post. “The ad was bad, and it’s still gnawing at my soul,” he wrote, acknowledging the harm caused by the message.

The ad was bad, and it’s still gnawing at my soul. I am ashamed I downplayed it instead of just calling it what it is – mean and punching down on a marginalized group. I am grateful for the ecosystem devs and artists that immediately called it what it is both publicly and…

— toly (@aeyakovenko) March 19, 2025

He further stated, “I am ashamed I downplayed it instead of just calling it what it is – mean and punching down on a marginalized group.” This admission came after initial responses that some felt minimized the impact of the advertisement.

Yakovenko expressed gratitude to members of the Solana ecosystem who immediately called out the problems with the advertisement. He described these community members as “the only silver lining to this whole mess.”

Following the backlash, Matt Sorg, Vice President of Technology at the Solana Foundation, provided some context about the advertisement’s creation. He explained that only a few individuals were involved in its production.

Sorg clarified that most of the production process had been outsourced to external teams. He emphasized that the advertisement did not represent the views of the broader Solana community.

Examining the Industry Impact and Response

The controversy sparked important discussions about the contributions of diverse groups to the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Adam Cochran, partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, pointed out that transgender developers have made major contributions to open-source cryptography and security software.

Cochran argued that the advertisement failed to recognize the industry’s history of meritocratic contributions. He noted that transgender people contribute to open-source software and cryptography in “an insanely disproportionate amount.”

Took them 9 hours to delete it.

Also all the major players in the Solana ecosystem suddenly delete their tweets promoting/supporting the ad and RT’d and liked takes about it being bad.

They approved this, supported it and celebrated it.

They rolled it back because it hurt… pic.twitter.com/kPMERDpTcn

— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) March 18, 2025

This observation is supported by data from a 2017 GitHub survey, which found that among 5,500 randomly selected open-source developers, 1% identified as transgender and another 1% as non-binary. These percentages are higher than their representation in the general population during that time period.

In his apology, Yakovenko committed to ensuring that the Solana Foundation remains focused on its core mission. He emphasized the importance of decentralization and open-source software development.

Yakovenko stated that he would use this experience as a learning opportunity. He promised that Solana would stay “out of cultural wars” and concentrate on its technical objectives.

As of March 19, the Solana Foundation has not made an official statement about the incident. However, its social media account has reshared Yakovenko’s apology post to its 3.3 million followers.

The controversy comes at a time when Solana’s cryptocurrency (SOL) has been performing well in the market. Recent reports indicate that SOL has rallied by 8% as cryptocurrency markets recover.

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