Trollface Creator Says Crypto ‘Diminishes’ Art, Rules Out Legal Action on $200M Meme Coin

Creator of the vintage internet meme Trollface told Decrypt that he has “no interest” in getting involved in the surging Solana meme coin based on his creation, as crypto’s capitalistic nature interferes with artistic expression. 

That said, he ruled out pressing legal action against the token despite his apparent promotion of a separate Troll token earlier this year… and then again on Tuesday.

Carlos Ramirez, known as Whynne online, told Decrypt in his first interview in 10 years that he is “constantly” being approached with offerings of token supply for Trollface-related meme coins, but called it a “cursed proposition” as he wouldn’t be able to sell the supply without crashing the token.

“The money means nothing to me if I can’t sell it, but if I sell it, I crash the coin. And frankly, I do not want to be responsible for other people’s financial ruin,” Ramirez told Decrypt.

When Decrypt explained that the Troll token deployer has earned more than $64,000 in Solana tokens via the creator revenue sharing feature on Pump.fun, Ramirez pushed back on engaging with the community even further.

“I’d prefer to never interact with such people. I know them too well. They aren’t interested in creating anything of value,” Ramirez told Decrypt. “It’s nothing personal. I just want to create art. I’m all for crypto as a technology for financial freedom and getting away from government reach. But the idea of crypto art just diminishes the art aspect. Too much profit motive for the expression to be genuine.”

“I made it clear many times before that I wanted nothing to do with it, and they don’t listen,” he added. “I didn’t ask them to mint like 30 different Troll tokens on Bags. People just want to make money on my name.”

The Troll meme coin has skyrocketed more than 1,050% in value over the past two weeks, from a market capitalization of $16.12 million to more than $184 million. It is now the 32nd largest meme coin in the world, per CoinGecko, ahead of the likes of Moo Deng, Aura, and Melania Trump’s official token. 

In its wake, tons of copycat and related tokens have spawned across multiple launchpads, including Bags, which allows deployers to share trading fees to a user on X, formerly Twitter.

“If people want to divert royalties to an address only I can access, that’s fine,” Ramirez said. “Like, I can’t really stop them. I’ll take whatever they throw at me, but if they think it means I owe them something, then they’re mistaken.”

In April, when the meme coin first rose from nowhere to touch a $42 million market cap, Ramirez attempted to jump on the crypto wave. He promoted a rival Troll token on X, branded as the project backed by the official artist, which hit a $14 million market cap. Those posts have since been deleted, and the token faded into obscurity.

When Decrypt asked if that token came as the result of a hack, Ramirez replied, “You could say that. But I don’t really want to speak on it. I have no relationship with any Trollcoin developers.” 

Decrypt then pushed him to answer whether he was or wasn’t hacked. In response, he said, “If I said I was, would it matter? People already have their own story. Let them believe whatever they want. I’m not really interested in setting the record straight.”

“I’m just not interested in any kind of involvement. On basically any level,” the artist told Decrypt. 

Just a day later, he promoted another rival Troll meme coin on his social media. This time, the token was created via the rising launchpad Bags. 

Considering what he had said in the past, it’s likely he did so because the Bags token was sharing fees with his X account. By contrast, Pump.fun, the platform on which the major token was created, shares trading fees with the token deployer, which would require the artist to be more directly involved with the project to redeem. Ramirez did not respond to Decrypt’s request for comment on the matter.

The post caused the token to spike to a $900,000 market cap before crashing 97% to $27,833, all within an hour.

In his last interview with Kotaku, Ramirez revealed that he registered Trollface in the U.S. Copyright Office in 2011. From then until the article’s publication in 2015, he estimated that he made over $100,000 in licensing fees, settlements, and other payouts associated with trollface. By 2015, Ramirez said that the checks had started to get smaller as the meme’s hype died out.

“Carlos Ramirez is the owner and creator of Trollface, from publication in 2008, and he went beyond by filing for a U.S. copyright registration in 2010,” Eliana Torres, an intellectual property attorney, told Decrypt. “That registration gives him the full set of legal rights of reproduction, licensing, and enforcement. And the fact that it went viral doesn’t change that.”

“If such a crypto project uses Trollface in its branding, token art, or marketing without a license, Carlos has a strong basis to claim copyright infringement,” Torres added. “He can demand takedowns, sue for damages, and seek an injunction. And because the copyright is registered, he can go after statutory damages and attorneys’ fees too.”

Despite his legal capability to press legal action, Ramirez ruled out such a scenario to Decrypt.

“I’m not going to do anything,” Ramirez told Decrypt. “I endorse nothing and I will interfere with nothing. They can do what they want,” the artist said, before promoting the rival meme coin on his social media.

Nirav Murthy, co-founder and co-CEO of IP-focused blockchain Camp Network, confirmed to Decrypt that the artist could still change his mind and pursue legal action.

The Troll meme coin team did not respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.

“Truthfully, I just don’t care about trollface like that,” Ramirez added.

Instead, the artist said that he wants to focus on other original characters he is working on. After all, Trollface was spawned on a sleepless night while in college, doodling on MS Paint. But he refused to reveal any details about it, out of fear that it would be turned into a meme coin.

“I have other original characters and ideas that I’d like to bring to life. And I know that if I talk about them at any length before I release them into the wild, they’ll get minted and cheapened as crypto assets before I have any say in it,” Ramirez told Decrypt. “So I prefer to keep quiet about what I do. It will come out when it’s ready.”

That said, he told Decrypt that he is working on a video game and has been for a while. Ramirez said that the game will fall into an entirely new genre and that his name won’t ever be tied to it.

“When it comes out you won’t know I had anything to do with it. And I intend to keep it that way as long as I can,” Ramirez said. “I’m not talking about it with anyone but I’m sure one of my friends will spill the beans eventually. It isn’t close to being done, so I wouldn’t think about it too much.”