#FreeGrace

Hello,

My name is Grace Yu. The purpose of this fundraiser is a legal defense fund.

I've worked in the Cosmos ecosystem since 2021, via Tendermint Venture's first incubated project. I worked at All in Bits from October 2022 to January 2023.

On 3/23/23, All in Bits, Inc., filed a legal complaint against me for my alleged "breach" of the non-disparagement provision in our consulting agreement. All in Bits demands a trial by jury. The company seeks damages to be determined at trial, and asks the amount be "not less than $150,000."

Their legal pleading is frivolous, composed of factual errors; false and misleading representations about me, my activities, and my alleged intent; and additionally alleges that former employees of AiB, and Comsos community leaders (Jacob Gadikian , Jack Zampolin , Zaki Manian) all who have direct knowledge of, and experience with AiB's abusive leadership and anti-competitive business practices, are conspiring to create reputational harm to the company. We are not responsible for the community's diminishing confidence and respect for All in Bits, Inc. as a foundational organization. The responsibility and liability of reputational harm to the company strictly and singularly belongs to Jae Kwon.

It's my observation and belief the legal action taken against me is a textbook SLAPP suit. SLAPP is an acronym for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. SLAPPs have become an all-too-common tool for intimidating and silencing criticism through expensive, baseless legal proceedings. In essence, SLAPPs are designed to discourage public discussion on matters of public importance by using the legal system to entrap a defendant into years of litigation.

I believe AiB's commitment to the values and practices of open-source qualifies as a fundamental matter of public importance for the Cosmos ecosystem. The use of restrictive covenants, NDAs, and broad confidentiality clauses to limit and prohibit the ongoing development of open-source software is harmful to decentralized development. Using non-competes to prohibit open source development either directly/indirectly is a restraint of trade and a violation of free speech rights. For more information on how AiB engages in both unlawful (objective) and unethical (subjective) business practices, please go to www.freedenis.com.

To me, it's telling that AiB is suing me for disparagement and not defamation. They know that everything that I have said qualifies as criticism, not defamation. Everything I have said about All in Bits, Jae Kwon, and their business practices are demonstrably true.

On behalf of the contributors and builders of the decentralized, permissionless, censorship-resistant realms -- I will not be bullied. I will not be intimidated. While Jae Kwon is an indelible fixture in the Cosmos origin story -- it is true to say, the ecosystem today, and the future of the interchain will be what it is despite and in spite of who he is. Jae Kwon's lawsuit against me does not represent the ethos of Cosmos. Rather, we are defined by our collective response to it.

I want to fight this, but I will need your help. I'm setting up a legal defense fund here to help me with the $50k retainer cost needed to engage legal representation in this matter. Any unused funds will be transferred to the Cossmos DAO. The Cossmos DAO is a Cosmos-based coalition to defend and advocate for builders' rights in the Cosmos.

"The worst form of injustice is pretended justice." Many in our community see this lawsuit as "pretended justice" to effect silence. I sincerely thank the Cosmos community for their resounding support. If you cannot contribute to the fund, please consider giving your voice.

Hold Jae Kwon, AiB, and its Board of Directors accountable.

We get the leadership we deserve.

Yours,

Grace Yu

Email: [email redacted]

Twitter: @gyunit_

#FreeGrace #dropthelawsuit