The illustrator behind the viral “Chill Guy” meme is warning CHILLGUY holders that he plans to take legal action against the Solana (SOL)-based memecoin over copyright issues.

According to a new Decrypt report, Chill Guy creator Phillip Banks recently took to the social media platform X to threaten legal action against unauthorized, for-profit uses of his viral cartoon.

“just putting it out there, chill guy has been copyrighted. like, legally. I’ll be issuing takedowns on for-profit related things over the next few days.”

Phillip Banks has locked his X account since the post. Per a screenshot from X user TheDeFiApe, Banks plans on going after unauthorized merchandise and memecoins.

Despite Banks’ protest, Crypto.com announced yesterday that the exchange was listing CHILLGUY. Gate.io, the tenth-largest crypto exchange by trading volume, also launched CHILLGUY trading yesterday as a “Pilot Section” project.

“CHILLGUY just launched on Gate.io’s Pilot Section and already skyrocketed 1065.01% in its first 24H!

From TikTok sensation to explosive memecoin – CHILLGUY showcases the incredible potential of Gate.io’s Pilot Section projects.”

Though the Chill Guy crypto project has yet to issue an official response, a meme posted to the memecoin’s X account this morning appears to be directed at Banks.

“Keep your crypto donations I’ll enjoy my Xbox.”