Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Plaintiff Electric Solidus, Inc. d/b/a Swan Bitcoin (“Swan”) complains and alleges the following against Defendants Proton Management Ltd. (“Proton”), Thomas Patrick Furlong, Ilios Corp., Michael Alexander Holmes, Rafael Dias Monteleone, Santhiran Naidoo, Enrique Romualdez, and Lucas Vasconcelos (collectively, “Defendants”). NATURE OF THE ACTION
Over a period of several weeks in July and August, Defendants and other agents hatched and executed a “rain and hellfire” plan to steal Swan’s billion-dollar Bitcoin mining business.
The individual Defendants (all former Swan consultants) conspired to steal Swan’s highly proprietary and confidential Bitcoin mining business, technology, trade secrets, property and personnel, and then resigned near-simultaneously on the evening of August 8, 2024, to join Defendant Proton—a copycat company Defendant Holmes created for the sole purpose of using Swan’s stolen technology and trade secret techniques and methods to usurp its mining business. Defendant Naidoo is now Proton’s Chief Investment Officer, and virtually all the consultants and employees who worked in Swan’s Bitcoin mining business—including Swan’s former executives and General Counsel—currently work for Defendant Proton with Swan’s confidential information and trade secrets.
The evidence of Defendants’ brazen theft is overwhelming. In the days and weeks before—and in the time surrounding—the individual Defendants’ departure from Swan, Defendant Monteleone cloned and exfiltrated highly proprietary code from Swan’s Bitcoin mining monitoring software—the Bitcoin Network Operating Center (“BNOC”)—directly from the secured coding platform GitHub and downloaded a copy of this Bitcoin mining “dashboard” outside of Swan’s secure systems. Others involved in the conspiracy who now work with Proton (including Proton’s current CEO—ex- Swan Chief Investment Officer and Head of Mining Raphael Zagury) also downloaded Swan’s BNOC.
COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
Gibson, Dunn &
Crutcher LLP
Plaintiff Electric Solidus, Inc. d/b/a Swan Bitcoin (“Swan”) complains and alleges
the following against Defendants Proton Management Ltd. (“Proton”), Thomas Patrick
Furlong, Ilios Corp., Michael Alexander Holmes, Rafael Dias Monteleone, Santhiran
Naidoo, Enrique Romualdez, and Lucas Vasconcelos (collectively, “Defendants”).
NATURE OF THE ACTION
agents hatched and executed a “rain and hellfire” plan to steal Swan’s billion-dollar
Bitcoin mining business.
Swan’s highly proprietary and confidential Bitcoin mining business, technology, trade
secrets, property and personnel, and then resigned near-simultaneously on the evening
of August 8, 2024, to join Defendant Proton—a copycat company Defendant Holmes
created for the sole purpose of using Swan’s stolen technology and trade secret
techniques and methods to usurp its mining business. Defendant Naidoo is now Proton’s
Chief Investment Officer, and virtually all the consultants and employees who worked
in Swan’s Bitcoin mining business—including Swan’s former executives and General
Counsel—currently work for Defendant Proton with Swan’s confidential information
and trade secrets.
weeks before—and in the time surrounding—the individual Defendants’ departure from
Swan, Defendant Monteleone cloned and exfiltrated highly proprietary code from
Swan’s Bitcoin mining monitoring software—the Bitcoin Network Operating Center
(“BNOC”)—directly from the secured coding platform GitHub and downloaded a copy
of this Bitcoin mining “dashboard” outside of Swan’s secure systems. Others involved
in the conspiracy who now work with Proton (including Proton’s current CEO—ex-
Swan Chief Investment Officer and Head of Mining Raphael Zagury) also downloaded
Swan’s BNOC.