In accordance with a court docket doc printed by Bloomberg Regulation, Steve Bannon and Boris Epshteyn have been named as defendants in a class-action lawsuit relating to Let’s Go Brandon Coin, which is a crypto token that was launched in 2021. Amongst different allegations, the lawsuit claims that the memecoin was promoted as steady and decentralized when, in actuality, it concerned a considerable amount of centralized management and administration. It additionally claims the token was utilized by the defendants to take advantage of their audiences and the followers of a broader political motion.
“Defendants intentionally focused a politically aligned and deeply loyal viewers—people who trusted Defendants’ judgment, motives, and dedication to shared values—and inspired them to spend money on the Token as a method of taking part in a broader motion,” claims the court docket submitting. “Defendants’ conduct was notably insidious as a result of it exploited that belief to induce purchases of an unregistered, extremely speculative asset beneath the guise of economic independence and group membership.”
Though it popped up previous to the memecoin frenzy that occurred on the Solana-based crypto platform Pump.enjoyable in 2024 and 2025, the creators and promoters of Let’s Go Brandon Coin are dealing with accusations just like these confronted by the “Hawk Tuah” lady and plenty of others in a separate lawsuit centered on quite a lot of cash launched on Solana and Pump.enjoyable.
That stated, the category motion lawsuit states that the defendants repeatedly acknowledged that Let’s Go Brandon Coin was not a memecoin and promoted it as “a critical monetary challenge with real-world utility, charitable function, and resilience towards inflation, debanking, and monetary censorship.”
Earlier reporting from Protos signifies Let’s Go Brandon Coin was initially launched on Binance Sensible Chain, which is the proprietary blockchain community related to world crypto alternate Binance, relatively than Solana.
The doc additionally alleges that the defendants had centralized management over the token through its related sensible contract and the flexibility to freeze person funds, which reportedly did occur, regardless of claims that customers of the token could be “uncancellable.”
The paperwork additionally allege a variety of securities violations came about with Let’s Go Brandon Coin. That is notable as a result of there was a reversal of crypto coverage beneath the Trump administration, which each of the important thing defendants on this case are affiliated with in a technique or one other. Bannon served as chief govt of Trump’s 2016 presidential marketing campaign and as chief strategist in his first administration, whereas Epshteyn acted as a senior advisor throughout the 2016 marketing campaign and has continued to advise the president as a member of his internal circle since then.
“The securities legal guidelines exist exactly to stop influential insiders from exploiting belief, obscuring materials details, and shifting threat onto retail buyers with out transparency or registration,” claims the lawsuit. “This motion seeks to make Defendants reply for his or her conduct, restore what was taken from buyers, and deter the misuse of public platforms and private affect.”
Notably, the SEC put out steering final 12 months shortly after Trump took workplace, claiming that memecoins mustn’t usually be thought to be securities for regulatory or authorized functions. Home Democrats have written to the SEC relating to fears of corruption and pay-to-play schemes involving crypto throughout Trump’s second time period, notably within the circumstances of TRON founder Justin Solar and the pardon of Changpeng Zhao, who’s the previous CEO of crypto alternate Binance. On prime of those corruption accusations, each President Trump and First Girl Melania Trump additionally launched their very own memecoins, that are each down 95% or extra from their all-time highs.
The crypto trade is presently hoping to get additional regulatory readability and approval signed into regulation through the CLARITY Act, however the laws hit a roadblock final month within the type of crypto alternate big Coinbase pulling their help for a draft model of the invoice. The prospects of the laws getting signed into regulation this 12 months are actually unclear, with prediction market Kalshi presently placing the percentages at 52%.
