Jump Trading’s Lawsuit Against Liam Heeger

Jump Trading has filed a lawsuit against Liam Heeger, a former software engineer, for allegedly violating his non-competition agreements by running a competing business.

The lawsuit, filed by Jump Operations on Tuesday, claims that Heeger, who co-led the blockchain project Firedancer at Jump, breached his non-competition agreement after resigning from the company on November 11. Heeger has since launched a new blockchain development venture that allegedly competes directly with Jump.

Jump contends that Heeger secured $3 million in funding at a $50 million valuation within a month of resignation, asserting this as a direct violation of his contractual obligations.

Heeger co-founded Unto Labs, which aims to develop a new Layer 1 blockchain. A spokesperson for Unto Labs stated they “strongly deny these allegations” and are “confident in the integrity” of their business practices, expressing excitement for the project’s future.

‘Secret’ Fundraising Allegations

In the lawsuit, Jump also alleged that Heeger misused confidential and proprietary information from his time at Jump to establish a competing company. Specifically, the filing claims Heeger met with venture capital firms during September’s Breakpoint conference in Singapore, where he presented updates for Project Firedancer on behalf of Jump.

These alleged “secret meetings” suggested Heeger was working on his competing venture while still employed at Jump. The lawsuit further claims that Heeger discussed investors for his new venture, including Framework Ventures, with a former colleague in December, after his resignation.

The document alleges that Heeger acknowledged his intention to comply with the non-compete agreement but later claimed California’s laws exempted him from these obligations after moving there.