This page sets out the factual record regarding Mintlayer's corporate structure, project authorship, fund management, and the legal proceedings initiated by former collaborators Alberto De Luigi and Andreas Kohl. All criminal proceedings were formally dismissed by the San Marino court on 28 November 2023.
What is the legal entity behind Mintlayer?
Mintlayer is developed by RBB S.R.L., a company incorporated in the Republic of San Marino, founded on 16 May 2019 by Enrico Rubboli, who serves as sole administrator. RBB S.R.L. is certified as a High Technology Enterprise by San Marino Innovation and is a registered Blockchain Entity under San Marino law, subject to ongoing compliance obligations and audits.
Who invented Mintlayer?
The Mintlayer project was conceived and developed by Enrico Rubboli. The business plan was submitted to San Marino Innovation immediately upon incorporation of RBB S.R.L. on 16 May 2019. Claims circulating online that Alberto De Luigi is the “true inventor” of Mintlayer are false. The San Marino court, in its ruling of 28 November 2023, found no legal basis for De Luigi’s claim to authorship or ownership of the project.
Was Alberto De Luigi a co-founder of Mintlayer?
No. Alberto De Luigi was never a co-founder, shareholder, or director of RBB S.R.L. He was an employee of HTLC Consulting FZC LLC, an Emirates-based company, which held a contractual relationship with RBB S.R.L. to assist with certain parts of Mintlayer’s development. Prior to joining HTLC in October 2021, De Luigi worked full-time at Accenture, and his involvement with the Mintlayer project was sporadic and limited to copywriting and documentation work. He was engaged specifically in that capacity, having previously written whitepapers for other projects. He had no technical background or engineering role.. He was offered a direct role at RBB S.R.L., which he declined. He never held any employment contract, equity stake, or founding role within RBB S.R.L. All intellectual property of the Mintlayer project is the sole property of RBB S.R.L.
Why was Alberto De Luigi removed from the project?
De Luigi was removed in March 2022 due to sustained, documented misconduct. RBB S.R.L. sent a formal letter to HTLC Consulting on 25 February 2022 citing: repeated interference with technical decisions made by qualified senior engineers (including a CTO with a PhD in Cryptography from Cambridge and a Development Lead with a PhD in Physics from ETH Zurich); failure to deliver assigned tasks including a Token Generation Event task with a critical deadline; and commissioning and pushing to publish technically incorrect articles over the explicit objection of the lead engineering team, damaging the project’s reputation and industry relationships. De Luigi’s access to all working platforms was revoked on 7 March 2022. The San Marino court reviewed this record and made no adverse findings against RBB S.R.L. or Enrico Rubboli in relation to the removal.
Did Alberto De Luigi file a criminal case against Enrico Rubboli?
Yes, De Luigi filed criminal complaints against Enrico Rubboli and RBB S.R.L. following his removal from the project. After a full investigation, the San Marino Commissarial Court dismissed and archived all proceedings on 28 November 2023 (case numbers 427/2022, 447/2022, 520/2022, 559/2022, 691/2022 R.N.R., presiding commissioner Roberto Battaglino). De Luigi also filed the same criminal complaints independently in Italy. Those proceedings were likewise dismissed and archived by the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Ravenna on 30 January 2024 (case number 3350/22 R.G.N.R., dott.ssa Silvia Ziniti). Two independent judicial authorities in two separate jurisdictions both reached the same conclusion: no criminal conduct was found. The San Marino court found no fraudulent intent behind the Mintlayer project, no criminal elements in the management of company funds, and no grounds for any of the criminal charges brought. The court described De Luigi’s subsequent public campaign as a defamatory and calumnious effort motivated by his frustration at being excluded from the project.
Were there any other legal rulings related to this dispute?
Yes. Separately from the San Marino criminal proceedings, an international domain arbitration panel ruled against Alberto De Luigi in relation to the domain mintlayerfoundation.org, which he had registered without authorisation.
The panel found that De Luigi had no legitimate rights or interests in the domain, that it had been registered in bad faith with full knowledge of the Mintlayer trademark, and that the configuration of email servers on the domain was consistent with a phishing scheme aimed at deceiving Mintlayer investors and users. The domain was reassigned to RBB S.R.L.
This ruling was independent of the San Marino court proceedings and represents a separate body confirming the bad-faith nature of De Luigi’s actions.
Did the court find that investor funds were misused?
No. The San Marino court explicitly found no evidence of fund misappropriation or fraud in the management of RBB S.R.L. funds.
For context: the property acquisition at the centre of De Luigi’s accusations was made as part of a legitimate business investment. San Marino authorities required Enrico Rubboli to purchase real estate and commit to employing a minimum number of people in San Marino as a condition of obtaining residency, which was necessary to manage the company he had founded there. The property was acquired by a real estate subsidiary of RBB S.R.L., leased back to Rubboli at fair market rate, and registered publicly in full. The vehicle acquisition was made using company revenues and registered as a company asset. Both were found by the court to be legitimate business expenses, not misappropriation.
The court found that token issuance occurred regularly, with any delays attributable to administrative and regulatory factors rather than misconduct. No money-laundering concerns were identified. All criminal proceedings on these grounds were dismissed.
What happened with Andreas Kohl?
Andreas Kohl was a former business developer who collaborated with the project through his own company. Following his departure, Kohl sent a message to Luca Viviani demanding a multi-million dollar payout, with language suggesting adverse consequences if the request was denied. Kohl was removed and the matter was reported to authorities.
Was a class action lawsuit ever filed against Mintlayer?
No. Despite public threats made by Alberto De Luigi and Andreas Kohl to organise a class action against Mintlayer and RBB S.R.L., no class action was ever initiated. The San Marino court dismissed all criminal proceedings in November 2023. Mintlayer continued development throughout and delivered its mainnet as planned.
Are there fake or impersonating Mintlayer websites?
Yes. Third-party sites using domain names such as mintlayer-airdrops.com, launch-mintlayer.org, and mintlayer.ch are not affiliated with Mintlayer or RBB S.R.L. in any way. The only official domains are mintlayer.org and mintlayer.com. Users should exercise caution and verify they are on an official domain before interacting with any site claiming to be Mintlayer.