We would like to take a moment to address the blatant misinformation being spread that the GenesysGo team banned “community developer” @svenasol and his project @sdrive_app from the $SHDW Drive platform. These lies are not only untrue but they are architecturally impossible. Pls read on. First, if you are a #Solana builder considering Shdw Drive v1.5 for your project please know that there is no way for GenesysGo to ban or interfere with the operations or existence of the users or builders utilizing Shdw Drive. Second, the very small yet very vocal group affected by the Discord bans has been driving the narrative that we are actively banning community developers for no reason other than spite or to harm the community. This is also completely untrue. @sdrive_app was a unique situation as @svenasol worked six months (approximately late February through late August) as a paid contractor for GenesysGo . He was paid directly by us via international wire through the same payroll software our core devs are paid. Yes, have the pay stubs as proof. We offered to help him by extending his runway by an additional six months for two reasons, first because he is a very talented and resourceful builder who grinds as much as anyone in the ecosystem. Second, bc we know what it’s like to leave the safety of an ordinary career in the hopes of building something yourself from scratch. We had hoped to help. We never directed or required anything of him beyond that he just keep doing what he’s been doing… build an amazing platform. We gave him near constant access to our core team and support resources as well as provided advice on many aspects and the direction of SDrive. As a part of our attempt to help, we also provided him with dedicated access to one of our internal servers as he said that the cloud costs associated with building and hosting SDrive were beginning to really add up. A couple of months after Svenasol received his final payment (yes, he was paid in full) we observed a shift in behavior that gave us concerns as relates to both his conduct and the architecture of the SDrive platform itself. The decision to remove his free access to our internal network would be pretty standard procedure at the end of any contracted term, however we had continued to allow access because we wanted to help. However, when the decision was made to remove him from our Discord we had concerns that there would be bad feelings which could lead to unfortunate actions taken on his part. Unfortunately, the past week has shown us that we were right in trusting our intuitions. We do not take matters of operational security lightly. Web3 has a real problem with choosing to believe low probability risk events won’t happen, hence why the space continues to suffer from hacks and exploits. This is why, despite his environment being isolated from all other parts of our network, we removed his access quickly and without advanced notification. His usage or lack of usage is irrelevant, it was simply a matter of access and ensuring that the network had no attack surfaces however unlikely. To any who might say, “If his access was really isolated like you claim then you should have given a few days notice” we would remind you that all operational security processes are as good as their consistency. We will not go into specifics as we are exploring our options as relates to the blatant and damaging misinformation that’s been made. However, these details are known by enough people that counsel has allowed us to release this statement. We hope this clears up any questions and puts to rest the ludicrous idea that we were somehow trying to “destroy SDrive” given that we directly funded at least six months of its development. Thank you all very much for your time and chin up everyone, wagmi!