In a recent turn of events, Anatoly Yakovenko, the CEO of Solana Labs, has publicly apologized for the contentious “America Is Back — Time to Accelerate” advertisement. The ad, which stirred up significant controversy, intertwined themes of American patriotism, tech innovation, and inappropriate commentary on gender identity.
“The ad was inappropriate, and it continues to trouble me,” Yakovenko admitted in a post on March 19, in the wake of intense criticism. “I regret not addressing it for what it is – insensitive and demeaning to a marginalized group.”
Yakovenko commended the members of the Solana community who highlighted the contentious content shared on Solana’s social media account. The post garnered approximately 1.2 million views and 1,300 comments before finally being removed nearly nine hours later.
Yakovenko has pledged to use this experience as an opportunity for growth, promising to keep Solana’s focus squarely on open-source software development and decentralization and to avoid getting embroiled in “cultural wars.”
While Solana has yet to issue an official statement, Yakovenko’s post was shared to its 3.3 million followers. Cointelegraph attempted to contact the Solana Foundation shortly after the ad was removed but did not receive a response.
The controversial ad, which was originally created for the Solana Accelerate conference, portrayed a man representing America in a therapy session discussing his ideas about innovation, such as cryptocurrency. The therapist’s response, suggesting he should instead focus on “inventing a new gender” or “focusing on pronouns,” sparked the controversy.
The ad’s removal came just over a week after Solana’s social media account posted a message asserting that “Solana is for everyone.” Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, emphasized that transgender individuals contribute significantly to open-source software and cryptography. A 2017 GitHub survey revealed that of the 5,500 randomly selected open-source developers surveyed, 1% identified as transgender, and another 1% as non-binary.
