A US federal court has delivered a decisive blow to investors seeking to hold celebrity Caitlyn Jenner liable for securities violations related to her memecoin venture. US District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. of the Central District of California issued a final order on April 16, 2026, granting defendants' motion to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint in Naeem Azad et al. v. Caitlyn Jenner et al. (Case No. 2:24-cv-09768). The court dismissed all federal securities claims with prejudice on the merits as to lead plaintiff Lee Greenfield, a UK citizen who claimed losses exceeding $40,000. As reported by Law360 and Bloomberg Law, the ruling centers on the Howey Test, the Supreme Court's 1946 framework examining whether there exists an investment of money in a common enterprise with profits derived solely from the efforts of others. The court found that 'two of the three Howey Test requirements were not met' and 'found no evidence of a 'common enterprise' between investors and the token issuers.
The class-action lawsuit, which sought to apply traditional securities law to Jenner's memecoin offering, collapsed under judicial scrutiny as the court determined that plaintiffs failed to present a plausible case. The case traces back to November 2024 when a group of investors filed claims after the token's value dropped sharply. Lee Greenfield, a UK citizen who said he had invested more than $40,000 in the token on both Solana and Ethereum blockchains in May 2024, served as the lead plaintiff. The original lawsuit was filed against Jenner and her manager Sophia Hutchins, who later died in July 2025. The amended complaint included claims that investors contributed funds with expectations tied to future actions, including token buybacks, marketing efforts, and planned uses. According to Law360, the court specifically noted that the amended complaint 'heavily focused on planned donations to Trump, but didn't explain how investors believed that doing so would provide a financial return to them'. The judge ultimately found that 'purchasers lacked a reasonable expectation of profit tied to Jenner's ongoing managerial efforts'.
The amended complaint focused on several proposed uses of funds, including donations and plans for fractional ownership linked to Jenner's Olympic gold medal. According to Law360, the court rejected the pooling argument, stating that the allegations did not show investors agreed to split profits and losses or pool resources for anything beyond buying the coin itself. The ruling noted that the plan to distribute fractional ownership in the gold medal was announced after most purchases and was never executed. The court denied the class another chance to amend the complaint, stating that 'Nor is it clear that the alleged plan to distribute fractionalized ownership interests in Jenner's gold medal has any bearing on Greenfield's claim, since the plan was not announced until August 2024—after the last of his purchases—and was never executed'. The court indicated that claims tied to contracts and common-law fraud under California law would be more appropriate in state court, leaving securities-related claims resolved in federal court while signaling that related state-law claims may proceed separately.
The JENNER token was launched on Solana on May 26, 2024, and later migrated to Ethereum after controversies and claims of misrepresentation. As reported by Law360, the project was promoted heavily through social media, including posts on X that featured AI-generated imagery with messages suggesting profit potential. The token peaked at about $7.5 million in mid-2024 before collapsing sharply. The project faced controversy linked to alleged issues with collaborators, with investors saying the token's value was diluted by the relaunch from Solana to Ethereum. The token has since essentially lost all of its value after hitting its peak. The token's market value decline from its earlier peak contributed to investor losses that formed the basis of the securities lawsuit. According to Law360, the court characterized the token as 'a speculative memecoin intended primarily for entertainment'.
This decision represents a significant victory for celebrity-backed cryptocurrency projects and establishes important precedent in the evolving landscape of digital asset regulation. The ruling provides much-needed clarity for the memecoin sector, with total memecoin market capitalization approaching $45 billion across major exchanges. The court's decision establishes early judicial precedent that meme-driven collectibles may avoid classification as federal securities, as reported by Law360. The ruling highlights that 'courts are formally acknowledging memecoins as speculative bets on cultural momentum rather than regulated financial instruments' and that 'the bar for securities liability may be higher for memecoins, but the bar for fraudulent conduct has not moved'. For celebrity-backed crypto ventures, the ruling provides a clearer roadmap for compliance, with projects emphasizing utility, community governance, and decentralized functionality appearing better positioned to avoid securities classification than those marketing investment returns. As noted by Law360, the decision preserves the possibility that related California-law claims could proceed in state court, though the federal securities case is resolved on the merits for now. The ruling emphasizes 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'.
