In a new development in the captivating story of viral fame and digital finance, Mark Longo, the caretaker of the famous squirrel Peanut, has taken legal action against Binance for alleged copyright infringement. This move comes after Longo's allegations that Binance unlawfully used images of his famous squirrel to promote the popular memecoin, PNUT, causing its value to drop nearly 10% following the announcement.
On Sunday, Mark Longo, widely known as 'Peanuts Dad', announced legal proceedings against Binance through a social media post, claiming that the exchange had used his intellectual property without permission. Peanut, a rescued squirrel who has garnered a significant following of over half a million people on Instagram through Longo's viral videos, was captured alongside Fred, a raccoon.
Both animals were euthanized for rabies testing due to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention not having an approved pre-death testing method, causing public outrage and condemnation from some lawmakers regarding how Peanut's death was handled.
This incident has led to a surge of enthusiasm for the Peanut-inspired memecoin, particularly the Solana-based PNUT, which quickly achieved a market capitalization of $120 million within a week of its launch. On November 11, Binance listed the memecoin, triggering a significant price surge, eventually landing in the top 10 memecoins by market capitalization and surpassing the $1 billion mark in less than a month. PNUT's market capitalization reached $2.27 billion before declining but has since maintained a position above $1 billion, fluctuating between $1.80 and $1.00.
The cease-and-desist letter issued by Longo alleges that Binance violated his intellectual property rights, citing the unauthorized use of copyrighted images of Peanut wearing a cowboy hat, as well as images resembling 'PEANUT THE SQUIRREL and PNUT' in the advertised memecoin. Longo's legal team made it clear that Binance must respond by December 31, 2024, confirming receipt of the letter and ceasing any infringing activities.
Longo stated that this is just the initial action in a series of cease-and-desist notices he intends to issue. Following the legal action, PNUT experienced a sharp decline of 10.2%, dropping from $1.17 to $1.05, near its lowest level in over a month, raising concerns among investors about future performance.
Longo's dissatisfaction with the PNUT memecoin has a history. Previously, he expressed his discontent with the cryptocurrency community profiting from his deceased pet.
In protest, he introduced his own memecoin, Justice for Pnut and Fred (JUSTICE), although it did not escape insider trading allegations. In his public warning, Longo also promoted another memecoin called Justice for Peanut (JFP), which surged 159% after the announcement before losing all its gains. Despite the chaos, as of the time of writing, PNUT remains at $1.10, reflecting a 5.1% decrease on the daily chart.
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