Cryptocurrencies,  People

Caitlyn Jenner Wins $JENNER class action

Judge rules the memecoin is not a security

By  / April 20, 2026 /
Caitlyn Jenner

A class action lawsuit against former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner has been thrown out by a federal judge, who ruled that her failed $JENNER memecoin was not a security.

Jenner was sued by a group of investors who saw the market capitalization of the token drop steeply from a high of around $46 million. It is now nearly worthless. Lead plaintiff Lee Greenfield said he lost more than $40,000 after investing in $JENNER.

The lawsuit, which was thrown out and refiled last year, cannot be refiled again, the judge ruled.

The JENNER token was essentially a rug pull, with Jenner claiming that she herself had been scammed by the person who created the coin for her.

Jenner had promised to use a 3% transaction fee for marketing once the $50 million mark was reached. It never did. She had also promised to donate to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and to fund a token that would provide fractional ownership of her decathlon gold medal.

While California Federal District Court Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr.’s ruling matches the Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to reclassify memecoins, saying they are not securities, he didn’t mention that in his ruling.

Instead, Blumenfeld noted that Jenner stated at the time of sale that “the $JENNER token is a memecoin on the Ethereum blockchain intended solely for entertainment purposes,’ and that its value would increase because Jenner would use her fame and influence to promote it, increasing demand.”

Which is to say that it was never promoted as a security.

Under former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler, nearly every token, including memecoins, were said to be securities. That changed when Donald Trump’s chairman, Paul Atkins, took over and imposed a much narrower view of what makes a cryptocurrency a security.

In order to be a security, a tradable instrument must meet the Howey test: It must be a financial asset that represents an investment in a common enterprise with an expectation of profit derived from others’ efforts.

“Promotion alone, however, does not establish a common enterprise absent pooling or a structure linking investor fortunes,” Blumenfeld said.

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Leo Jakobson, Modern Consensus editor-in-chief, is a New York-based journalist who has traveled the world writing about incentive travel. He has also covered consumer and employee engagement, small business, the East Coast side of the Internet boom and bust, and New York City crime, nightlife, and politics.