The U.S. Federal Reserve has transmit The company sent a cease-and-desist letter to crypto media publication Bitcoin Magazine, accusing it of trademark infringement, according to a Nov. 3 post from the publication. Bitcoin Magazine claims it was targeted because it used the word “FedNow” on “T-shirts, hats and other wearables.” FedNow is the trade name for the Federal Reserve’s instant payments system.
The Federal Reserve has threatened to sue Bitcoin Magazine, claiming that clothing imitating its FedNow system is not protected speech but copyright infringement.@markgoodw_in Bitcoin Magazine’s response:https://t.co/PYmeZHBYWO
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) November 3, 2023
Bitcoin Magazine has the word “FedNow” printed on some items sold in its store, but the “O” in the word has been replaced by an image of an eye.
The article said the Fed claimed the content “misleads readers into believing there is a connection between the publication and the central bank.”
In response, Bitcoin Magazine’s legal team sent a letter to the Federal Reserve denying the accusation. The letter states that the merchandise is “undeniably parody in nature” because it was created “for the purpose of parody and political criticism of the Federal Reserve.”
As evidence of this, the letter points to an image of an eye found in the design, which it calls the “surveillance eye.” In another open letter cited in the post, Bitcoin Magazine called the eye an “all-seeing eye, symbolizing the state of the (Fed)’s attempt to impose total financial surveillance on the U.S. financial system.”
The term “All-Seeing Eye” or “Eye of Providence” refers to a symbol in Jacopo Pontormo’s 1525 painting “Supper at Emmaus” that later appeared on the back of the U.S. $1 bill.
Bitcoin Magazine said in its post that it will not stop printing or selling its “FedNow” line of merchandise because it believes the merchandise constitutes free speech protected under the First Amendment.
FedNow is an interbank payments system launched by the Federal Reserve in July. It allows banks and money transfer services to make payments instantly without relying on the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system used in the past. Bitcoin Magazine harshly criticized FedNow in its article and video, claim It’s a “scam” that allows the government to “continue to control you, your business and other people’s businesses.”
related: FedNow demonstrates DLT-based payment system as service provider
FedNow has also been criticized by presidential candidates Ron Desantis and Robert Kennedy, Jr. They claim that FedNow is paving the way for a future central bank digital currency (CBDC), which they believe will invade Americans’ privacy. The Fed denies that its services have anything to do with CBDC.
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