Mark Longo, the owner of the viral sensation Peanut the Squirrel, has filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange Binance, accusing the platform of using images and narratives featuring Peanut without his permission. Longo claims that Binance violated his intellectual property rights by utilizing Peanut’s likeness and stories without consent.
“My legal team initiated action against Binance for the unauthorized use of my intellectual property, including images and stories featuring my beloved animals,” Longo stated on his X account, Squirrel_Dad.
In his social media post, Longo also warned that this lawsuit could be the first of many, as he aims to protect his “creative work” from unauthorized use. “This is the first of multiple cease and desist letters to be issued. I’m committed to protecting my creative work and sending a clear message: unauthorized use of my IP will not be tolerated,” he declared.
The legal action comes amid rising tensions in the Peanut-themed meme coin ecosystem. Longo recently launched the “Justice for Peanut” (JFP) token, claiming it to be the “only real PNUT coin.” After initially reaching a market cap of $116 million, the token’s value has since dropped by over 95%, now sitting at just $3 million. This dramatic decline has sparked debate within the online crypto community, with some users questioning Longo’s motives and accusing him of using the controversy for financial gain. “You rugged 5 separate contracts and made millions of dollars already and we have all the proof. Everyone knows you’re a scamming value extractor,” one user wrote.
Peanut’s Journey to Fame
Peanut the Squirrel gained national attention during the U.S. presidential election, following a highly publicized conflict between Longo and New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC). The agency confiscated Peanut and a raccoon from Longo’s care, and later reports revealed that Peanut had died while in custody. This sparked outrage and widespread support from figures such as Elon Musk. The incident also led to the creation of numerous meme coins, with PNUT emerging as the most notable. On November 11, PNUT was listed on Binance, and within just 11 days, it reached a market cap of $1 billion—an achievement that took Dogecoin 1,487 days to accomplish.
Mark Longo’s actions follow a similar trend in the meme coin world. Last month, artist Phillip Banks, the creator of the viral “Just a Chill Guy” meme, announced plans to enforce copyright protection for his popular character. The meme, featuring a laid-back, anthropomorphic dog with a signature smirk, had been adopted widely by the crypto community. “Just putting it out there, chill guy has been copyrighted. Like, legally. I’ll be issuing takedowns on for-profit related things over the next few days,” Banks explained. He clarified that his enforcement would not target brand accounts using the meme as a trend, but rather unauthorized merchandise and “shitcoins.”
As both Longo and Banks seek to protect their intellectual property, the growing trend of meme coin creators taking legal action is raising important questions about ownership and rights in the digital age.
