Matter Labs, the developer of the layer-2 blockchain platform ZKSync, is being sued by BANKEX, a former digital asset banking platform, over allegations of intellectual property theft. The lawsuit, filed with the New York State Supreme Court, claims that two former BANKEX employees, Alexandr Vlasov and Petr Korolev, misappropriated the company's technology to establish Matter Labs, which has since received over $450 million in venture capital funding and become a significant player in the blockchain industry. The complaint alleges that Vlasov and Korolev were working on a project for Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in 2017 when they secretly developed Matter Labs, using BANKEX's resources and funding to do so. Matter Labs has denied the allegations, stating that ZKSync is an original technology that does not rely on any code developed by BANKEX.
The company's spokesperson described the claims as "entirely without merit" and expressed confidence in the integrity of their work. The lawsuit also names other individuals and entities, including Matter Labs co-founder Alex Gluchowski and crypto investment fund Dragonfly, for their alleged involvement in the theft.
BANKEX's lawyer has stated that the company believes the allegations are well-founded and looks forward to presenting its case in court.