The CEO of Solana, Antoly Yakovenko, has come forward to apologize for the insensitive Solana advertisement that targeting the trans community.

In a candid response to his 560k followers on X, he expressed how it has been gnawing at his soul since he realised he had made a mistake with the advertisement that was viewed by so many as insensitive and offensive.

In his statement, he also called the ad a mean and punching down on a marginalized group of people, and he apologizes for downplaying the whole situation.

What the controversial ad was about

The Solana Foundation faced significant criticism following the release of a promotional video titled "America is back-time to Accelerate."

The ad, posted on March 17, featured America as a man in therapy who was having thoughts "about innovation" such as crypto. But his idea was shot down by his therapist, who advised him to do "something more productive, like coming with new genders"

The advertisement ends off with the man standing up and saying the controversial statement

"I want to invent technologies, not genders!"

Following all the backlash and criticism Solana was getting because of this ad, Solana was very quick to take action and take down the controversial ad. But by that time, the ad has already been viewed over 1.2 million times and racked up over 1,300 comments and 1,400 reposts. And the damage had already been done.

Even after the advertisement was deleted, the hate continued to roll in, a majority of which derided it for its handling of gender identity and for making light of a highly divisive political issue.

Cinneamhain Ventures partner Adam Cochran wrote on his X, claiming Solana only deleted the ad because it hurt their business, and not because they realise they had made a mistake.

Industry calls Yakovenko a Real Leader

His blunt and emotional acknowledgment signals a rare moment of corporate accountability in the fast-moving world of blockchain, with several industry figures praising Yakovenko for owning up to his mistakes.

Sam Lessin, an early investor in Venmo, commended the CEO’s direct approach, responding, “I love you owning this directly.”

Other figures in the crypto space echoed similar sentiments, with one user writing, “Respect you saying this with no ego, that is real leadership brother. We can move on and accelerate together.” A developer added, “It takes real courage to take accountability and publicly own up to a mistake.”

Despite Yakovenko’s personal statements, the Solana Foundation itself has yet to release an official statement on the matter.

Interestingly, Solana’s native cryptocurrency, SOL, appears unfazed by the turmoil. According to CoinMarketCap data, SOL has surged over 7% in the past 24 hours, currently trading at $133.30. The rally is largely attributed to the launch of the first-ever Solana-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S., issued by Volatility Shares.

While the controversy may have shaken the community, Solana’s market performance suggests that investor confidence remains strong. Whether the blockchain giant can truly stay out of culture wars moving forward remains to be seen—but for now, Yakovenko’s public reckoning has earned him both criticism and respect.

Solana sticking to what it does best

After the whole saga, Yakovenko praised his team, particularly his developers and artists who took the decisive action to take down the advertisement.

“I am grateful for the ecosystem devs and artists that immediately called it what it is both publicly and privately,” he wrote. “You are the only silver lining to this whole mess.”

The Solana CEO also promised fans that moving forward, the company would keep its focus strictly on what it does best: decentralisation and open-source software development and steering clear of divisive political and social narratives.

In his statement, Yakovenko says

“I’ll do whatever I can to make sure Solana Foundation stays focused on its mission of decentralization and open-source software development and out of culture wars.”

In a world that is becoming increasingly politicized, the Solana incident does act as a precautionary tale to other blockchain companies, that they should not unnecessarily involve themselves in controversial political and social topics, lest they want to be burned by playing with fire.