'Just a Chill Guy' Artist Threatens Legal Action Over Surging Meme Coin

Phillip Banks, the artist behind the viral "Chill Guy" meme, has taken to Twitter to threaten legal action against meme coins using his art. 

Solana meme coin CHILLGUY had peaked at a $500 million market cap. But in the two hours that followed Banks’ tweet, the price plummeted 54% to $220 million. It's now up to $375 million. CHILLGUY surged by over 400% on Wednesday; the token was created less than a week ago.

“Chill guy has been copyrighted. Like, legally. I'll be issuing takedowns on for-profit-related things over the next few days,” Banks posted on Twitter, after a brief hiatus from the platform.

As Chill Guy has become an internet sensation, big celebrities—from UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones to rapper Sexyy Red—and brands like classic Xbox franchise Halo have reposted the meme. This kind of usage the artist doesn’t mind, he said, but the creation of crypto coins crosses the line.

Banks said that he won't pursue action against "brand accounts using him as a trend," adding that it's "kinda something I don't really care about (I do just ask for credit or Xboxes).” He explained on Twitter that the usage he doesn’t like includes “mainly unauthorized merchandise and shitcoins.”

As the CHILLGUY meme coin roared throughout the week, Banks put his Twitter account on private and slammed crypto projects using his art. He claimed that his DMs and notifications were being bombarded with “crypto shit,” and that’s why he needed to take a brief break from the site.

Although that happened on Tuesday, it didn’t stop the CHILLGUY ascension as it rose from $11.45 million at the start of the day to a Wednesday peak of $510 million. On top of this, countless other tokens launched using Banks’ artwork or adjusting it to fit their needs—i.e. CHILWIFHAT, Not a Chill Guy (PHILLIP), and CHILLGIRL.

Despite this formal denouncement and threat from the Chill Guy art creator, some crypto exchanges have continued to list the token for trading on their platform. Crypto.com and Gate.io have already listed the token, while Binance’s Twitter account hinted at the possibility.

This situation echoes meme coin-fueled copyright feuds of the past. Most notably, Solana token Shark Cat (SC) used the image of an internet-famous kitten called Nala without its owners permission. This led to threats of legal action, but the two sides eventually settled outside of court with the cat owner coming to an agreement with the token team.

The CHILLGUY meme coin has created a donation wallet earmarked for Banks. At the time of writing, the wallet has $59,000 worth of Solana and nearly $240,000 worth of tokens—including $177,000 of CHILLGUY, $44,700 of REALLYCHILLGUY, and $2,500 of FWOG.

But despite this, Banks appears uninterested. Instead, the artist claimed that the meme coin backlash has led to him being doxxed—meaning his real identity has been leaked. Some traders apologized for the behavior of their compatriots, while others continued the volley of slams.

"Karen vibes," one trader replied, citing the pejorative term. Banks has since turned his Twitter back to private.

Edited by Andrew Hayward and Stacy Elliott