In a now-deleted X put up, the proprietor of Peanut the Squirrel, Mark Longo, has seemingly threatened to sue PNUT holders for copyright infringement whereas launching his personal meme coin.
After accusing the PNUT neighborhood of profiting off his pet’s story, Mark Longo, the proprietor of Peanut the Squirrel, has introduced plans to sue holders of the token and has launched his personal coin, JUSTICE, in protest.
In a now-deleted follow-up post on X, Longo threatened authorized motion towards PNUT holders. He accused them of profiting off his story after New York State Division of Environmental Conservation brokers euthanized his pets, Peanut the squirrel and a raccoon named Fred, following an incident the place Peanut bit an officer.
Peanut’s euthanasia sparks outcry
In late October, DEC brokers seized Peanut and Fred from Longo’s dwelling as a result of violations of state legal guidelines prohibiting the conserving of untamed animals. Regardless of Longo’s claims that the animals had been launched into the wild, Peanut’s continued appearances in social media posts led to a raid by officers on Oct 30, per a New York Occasions report.
Tragically, each Peanut and Fred had been euthanized on Nov. 1, after a chunk from Peanut raised issues about rabies. Nonetheless, exams later confirmed that neither animal had the illness.
The euthanasia of Peanut, mixed with the controversy surrounding the DEC’s actions, sparked a widespread outcry. The incident gained additional consideration when Elon Musk tweeted in assist of Peanut, turning the squirrel into an emblem of freedom and authorities overreach.
Squirrel_Dad launches his personal meme coin
After the euthanasia, the crypto neighborhood launched a meme coin known as (PNUT), impressed by the squirrel’s web fame. The token’s value surged following its Binance itemizing, driving widespread curiosity and hypothesis, however it started to say no steadily afterward, with critics suggesting it might be one other pump-and-dump scheme typical of the meme coin market.
Longo, who had constructed a loyal following for Peanut, expressed frustration at how the PNUT neighborhood used his pet’s legacy for monetary achieve with out providing him compensation.
In response to the overwhelming success of PNUT, Longo launched his personal token dubbed JUSTICE as a approach to assert management over his narrative and distance himself from the PNUT neighborhood. The token rapidly gained consideration, reaching a $13 million market cap, with its value hovering greater than 50,000% within the 24 hours main as much as press time, per data from DEX Screener.