The family of Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI researcher who was found dead in his San Francisco apartment in November 2024, has turned to cryptocurrency to fund their ongoing legal battle disputing the cause of his death. While the medical examiner ruled the case a suicide, Balaji’s parents believe the scene was staged and are challenging what they call a botched and covered-up investigation.
To raise funds to continue investigation efforts, the family has embraced crypto donation. This includes a Solana-based meme coin, to continue pushing for transparency and justice. Balaji’s mother, Poornima Rao, said the support has been vital to manage soaring legal and investigative costs.
Balaji, well-known in AI ethics circles before his demise, was vocally critical of OpenAI’s purported abuse of copyrighted resources to train AI models such as ChatGPT. His outspoken views, some believe, may have played a role in the mystery surrounding his demise.
The Justice for Suchir (SUCHIR) token was introduced through the Bags.FM meme coin platform in December 2024. On December 29, the token peaked at $0.015 and momentarily brought in $5,000 for the family. Like most meme coins, however, its value later plummeted, dropping over 99% from its peak. At the time of writing, the total raised amount was $11,499.35, and SUCHIR was trading at $0.00006043 dropping over 4% in the last 24 hours as per CoinMarketCap.
Before the coin launch, a separate crypto fundraiser in January 2025 raised over $140,000 in Solana and other tokens. Rao described the outpouring of donations as overwhelming and said it helped sustain their efforts when traditional funding options dried up.
Despite the initial success, the Solana wallet used in the campaign hasn’t seen any donations since April 2025, according to blockchain tracker SolScan. Still, the meme coin wallet continues to receive small contributions.
Legal costs have proven steep. One attorney billed the family $25,000 per hour before ultimately withdrawing due to other commitments. A second lawyer charged them $60,000, while an additional $115,000 was spent on investigation-related fees.
In February 2025, the family filed a formal lawsuit against the City of San Francisco and the SFPD, accusing authorities of withholding crucial evidence and mishandling the investigation. Rao said that since few investigators know how to get the truth out, it makes the process more expensive.
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