P’Nut the Squirrel’s still-grieving proprietor is feuding with “delusional” cryptocurrency buyers he claims are making hundreds of thousands off the tragic loss of life of his well-known pet — whereas he’s making peanuts.
Mark Longo lashed out this week in opposition to P’Nut followers who began so-called “memecoins,” or cryptocurrencies primarily based on viral jokes, that includes his beloved furry buddy.
Lots of the digital property cropped up and noticed their values skyrocket in October after state Division of Environmental Conservation brokers raided Longo’s upstate dwelling, the place they seized P’Nut and his raccoon buddy, Fred, earlier than euthanizing and decapitating them for rabies testing.
“I got really, really upset, and I started reaching out and being like, ‘Do not use my stuff without allocating something to the farm,’” Longo, 34, advised The Publish, referring to the animal sanctuary he operates.
Rigidity between Longo and the crypto world went public earlier this week when he lashed out on X at these investing in one of many digital tokens, generally known as the “PEANUT” coin.
“YOU USED MY STORY, MY SQUIRREL AND MY [LIKENESS] TO MAKE MILLIONS,” he seethed on X after the potential partnership fell by way of. “How would you feel if NO ONE included your nonprofit made millions then offered a [FRACTION] of the money you made?”
“You people are delusional,” he continued.
A bunch of buyers within the “PEANUT” coin mentioned they’d been seeking to accomplice with Longo — who launched his personal crypto token on Wednesday, referred to as “JUSTICE.”
The “PEANUT” buyers supplied him a fractional proportion of the coin circulation at time, which Longo referred to as ”a slap within the face” given the token’s multimillion-dollar market cap. A number of “PEANUT” buyers mentioned their neighborhood nonetheless ended up sending him a donation of their digital token value $50,000.
Longo’s coin is sitting at a $14.5 million market cap as of Friday afternoon, down from a excessive of $144.7 million hours after the preliminary launch Wednesday, in line with Coin Gecko.
The “JUSTICE” coin has an specific mission to assist assist his animal sanctuary, he added.
“They’re looking out for not only me, but my animals in the future,” mentioned Longo, who confirmed he obtained a “sizable donation” from the “JUSTICE” coin’s buyers, however declined to share the quantity.
The unique “PEANUT” coin buyers claimed they began their token nearly two weeks earlier than P’Nut’s premature loss of life, looking for to rejoice the squirrel’s on-line virality.
Longo misunderstood the dynamics of their coin’s crypto neighborhood, they insisted. The overwhelming majority of their token’s token’s roughly 11,000-plus buyers maintain simply $100- to $1,000-worth of the digital asset, and usually are not seeing any windfalls, one advised The Publish.
“People in this community would have come together, volunteered at his farm, sent him more money. But he decided that he needed to own the entire thing,” mentioned a 30-year-old early investor within the “PEANUT” coin, who requested anonymity.
