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A California federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Caitlyn Jenner on Thursday, April 16, 2026, regarding her cryptocurrency project, the $JENNER token.
The ruling, which became public on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, concluded that the memecoin does not qualify as an unregistered security under United States law.
U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. determined that the plaintiffs failed to prove the token met the legal criteria of an "investment contract."
The lawsuit, led by British investor Lee Greenfield, alleged that Caitlyn Jenner used her celebrity status to "hype" the token and mislead investors about its potential profitability.
Greenfield claimed he lost more than $40,000 after purchasing the token on both the Solana and Ethereum blockchains in May 2024.
The complaint argued that Caitlyn Jenner’s promotion created an expectation of profit based on her personal influence and management, which should have required her to register the token with the SEC.
However, the judge applied the Howey Test, a decades-old legal standard used to define securities, and found that the $JENNER token lacked a "common enterprise."
The court ruled that investors did not pool their resources in a way that linked their fortunes to a specific business venture or technological development.
Judge Blumenfeld noted that promotion alone, even from a high-profile figure like Jenner, does not transform a digital asset into a security if the creator primarily intends it for entertainment.
This dismissal marks a significant victory for Jenner, who launched the token amid a wave of celebrity-backed "memecoins" in 2024.
Controversy initially marred the project when Jenner claimed a collaborator scammed her during the Solana launch, which led her to relaunch the token on the Ethereum network.
Investors argued that this move further devalued their original holdings, but the court found these claims insufficient to support federal securities fraud charges.
While the federal case is now closed, the judge indicated that any remaining claims regarding common law fraud or breach of contract belong in state court rather than federal court.
This leaves a small window for the plaintiffs to pursue further action, though the dismissal of the federal securities allegations removes the most significant legal threat to Jenner.
