“The owner of the squirrel nicknamed Peanut (Peanut the Squirrel) Mark Longo and his lawyers sent an official request to the Binance exchange to stop using the pet’s photo and name registered as trademarks. Mara Longo’s tweet announcing requirements for Binance. Source: X. “This is the first of many such demands. I will protect my creative work and send a clear message: I will not tolerate unauthorized use of my intellectual property. We will achieve justice,” — […]”, — write: businessua.com.ua
The owner of the squirrel nicknamed Peanut (Peanut the Squirrel) Mark Longo and his lawyers sent an official request to the Binance exchange to stop using the photo and name pets registered as trademarks.
Mara Longo’s tweet announcing requirements for Binance. Source: X.
“This is the first of many such demands. I will protect my creative work and send a clear message: I will not tolerate unauthorized use of my intellectual property. We will achieve justice,” Longo said.
According to him, lawyers have already started proceedings against Binance. The case concerns images of a squirrel, as well as the trademarks PEANUT THE SQUIRREL, P’NUT THE SQUIRREL, PNUT and similar. According to the text of the letter dated December 12, the exchange team must respond by the end of the 2024 calendar year.
An excerpt of the letter to Binance with examples of the use of problematic materials. Source: X.
Longo’s lawyers said he has been promoting those trademarks since April 2017 in educational and entertainment materials, environmental projects and fundraisers.
In their opinion, the use of Arakhis’ photo and name, especially in crypto projects related to fundraising, misleads users.
According to the letter, he had already received “complaints and comments” about tokens dedicated to the famous squirrel. Asset buyers get the impression that the animal’s owner is associated with these projects or has consented to the use of protected materials.
In December, Longo began promoting his own meme coin, Justice for Peanut (JFP). A month before that, he launched a similar JUSTICE asset, accusing the community and competing tokens of wanting to make a profit.
We are the only real Pnut Coin 🐿$JFP ❤️ https://t.co/eei2sO1dhQ
— Justice (@JusticePnutFred) December 16, 2024
Some commentators criticized the owner of the squirrel for exploiting the animal’s image and tragic history.
Exploiting the death of your pet to scam money from your fans? You are a disgrace to human civilization.
— PandaPunk 🐿️🥜 (@realpandapunks) December 16, 2024
“Using your pet’s death to scam fans out of money? You are a disgrace to human civilization,” one user wrote.
Others suspected Longo of token fraud.
me and 10,000 other people are going to sue your ass for the countless rugs you’ve launched
and your post is a bluff to pump your scam coin, but mine won’t be
im coming for your ass @Squirrel_Dad12 and its gonna hurt so hard your going to go back to stripping on onlyfans pic.twitter.com/toQZbs8HQp
— Marcell (@MarcellxMarcell) December 16, 2024
“I and 10,000 other people will condemn you for the countless rug pull schemes you have run. Your post is a bluff for the scam token pump, mine is not,” the commenter stated.
Peanut has become a popular phenomenon on social media, gaining more than 900,000 followers on Instagram. On October 30, the squirrel and a pet raccoon named Fred were confiscated by the New York State Department of Environmental Protection, citing laws that prohibit keeping wild animals as pets. On November 1, the squirrel and the raccoon fell asleep.
The event sparked community outrage and prompted the launch of several meme coins dedicated to the squirrel.
At the time of writing, the Peanut the Squirrel Price (PNUT) token launched on Binance is trading at $1.11. Capitalization is $1.11 billion.
Binance PNUT/USDT 30-minute chart. Source: TradingView.
We will remind, at the beginning of December, the developers of the Hawk Tuah meme heroine token were suspected of an exit scam.
The source