What is Peanut the Squirrel?

Peanut was a pet Eastern gray squirrel raised by a woman in New York State. In late 2024, the squirrel was removed and euthanized by state wildlife authorities, who cited regulations prohibiting the keeping of wild animals as pets. This decision received widespread attention online, with many people expressing concern or criticism about the enforcement of such policies.

The incident prompted a strong reaction on social media, where it quickly became a topic of discussion. The story was widely shared, often accompanied by commentary that mixed serious criticism with elements of internet humor and satire.

What is PNUT?

PNUT was launched on the Solana network as a Solana Program Library (SPL) token in November 2024 through a fair launch on pump.fun. The launch did not include any presales, team allocations, or venture capital involvement. The total and circulating supply is approximately 999.85 million tokens. ​ PNUT is a meme coin, and otherwise does not have any utility on the Solana network.

Risk Statement

Before trading any crypto assets it is important to understand the risks. This overview is a starting point for you to perform your own research prior to investing in a crypto asset. 

No securities regulatory authority or regulator in Canada has evaluated or endorsed the Crypto Contracts or any of the crypto assets made available through the platform. 

Wealthsimple has performed an assessment of whether PNUT can be supported by Wealthsimple’s platform, including whether PNUT is a security and/or a derivative and is being offered in compliance with securities and derivatives laws. 

We evaluated PNUT based on publicly available information, including (but not limited to):

• The creation, governance, usage and design of PNUT, including the source code, security and roadmap for growth in the developer community and, if applicable, the background of the developer(s) that first created PNUT;
• The supply, demand, maturity, utility and liquidity of PNUT;
• Material technical risks associated with PNUT, including any code defects, security breaches and other threats concerning PNUT and its supporting blockchain (such as the susceptibility to hacking and impact of forking), or the practices and protocols that apply to them; 
• Legal and regulatory risks associated with PNUT, including any pending, potential, or prior civil, regulatory, criminal, or enforcement action relating to the issuance, distribution, or use of PNUT; and
• Statements made by regulators or securities regulatory authorities in Canada and other jurisdiction regarding whether PNUT, or generally about whether the type of crypto asset, is a security and/or a derivative.

Wealthsimple monitors ongoing developments related to crypto assets available on its platform for significant changes that may affect Wealthsimple’s original assessment of those assets, including Wealthsimple’s assessment of the application of securities and derivatives laws. Any significant changes relating to PNUT may result in changes to this Crypto Asset Statement and/or Wealthsimple’s ability to support PNUT.

Like all other crypto assets, there are some general risks to investing in PNUT. These include short history risk, volatility risk, liquidity risk, demand risk, forking risk, cryptography risk, regulatory risk, concentration risk, electronic trading risk and cyber security risk. Please review the Wealthsimple Crypto Product Risk Disclosure for additional discussion of general risks associated with the crypto assets made available through the platform.

We emphasize that this Crypto Asset Statement is not exhaustive of all risks associated with trading PNUT. Investors should perform their own assessment to determine the appropriate level of risk for their personal circumstances.

Wealthsimple is offering Crypto Contracts in reliance on a prospectus exemption contained in the exemptive relief decision Re Wealthsimple Investments Inc. dated December 18, 2023 (the Decision). 

The statutory rights of action for damages and rescission in section 130.1 of the Securities Act (Ontario), and, if applicable, similar statutory rights under securities legislation of other jurisdictions of Canada, do not apply in respect of this Crypto Asset Statement to the extent a Crypto Contract is distributed under the prospectus relief in the Decision.

Last updated: May 9, 2025