Matter Labs, the company behind Ethereum’s Layer-2 solution ZKsync, is facing a lawsuit from BANKEX, a defunct blockchain firm. The lawsuit, filed in the New York State Supreme Court, alleges that former BANKEX employees Alexandr Vlasov and Petr Korolev misappropriated proprietary code related to Plasma technology to build Matter Labs.
Background of the Lawsuit
The complaint claims that while working on Plasma-based software at BANKEX, Vlasov and Korolev secretly diverted company resources to develop Matter Labs. It alleges they covertly stored codebases and transferred BANKEX’s technology while still on the company’s payroll. This action is said to have occurred during their employment at BANKEX.
Connection to Ethereum’s Plasma Framework
BANKEX was initially commissioned by Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, in 2017 to help build Plasma – a framework designed to scale Ethereum. The lawsuit links this early development work to the foundation of ZKsync, which has since become a prominent Layer-2 network after raising over $450 million.
Defendants Named in the Lawsuit
In addition to Vlasov and Korolev, other defendants named in the suit include Matter Labs co-founder and CEO Alex Gluchowski, venture capital firm Dragonfly, and former board member Chris Burniske. The legal action highlights the complex relationships between blockchain companies and the intellectual property disputes that can arise in this rapidly evolving industry.
