Bannon, Epshteyn hit with investor class action over ‘Patriot Pay’ cryptocurrency

By Mike Scarcella

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - An investor on Friday sued Steve Bannon, Boris Epshteyn and others in a proposed class action accusing them of selling unregistered cryptocurrency to thousands of people while concealing facts about the conservative-coded digital token’s risks and governance.

The lawsuit in Washington, D.C., federal court named Bannon and Epshteyn, both longtime allies of U.S. President Donald Trump, along with Bannon’s War Room media company, Let’s Go Brandon Coin LLC and Patriot Pay LLC, among other defendants.

The plaintiff, Missouri resident Andrew Barr, said he lost more than $58,000 on his investments.

“The securities laws exist precisely to prevent influential insiders from exploiting trust, obscuring material facts and shifting risk onto retail investors without transparency or registration,” Barr said in the complaint.

Bannon, War Room and Epshteyn could not be immediately reached for comment. Lawyers for the defendants had not yet entered appearances in the case on Friday.

Constantine Economides, a lawyer for the plaintiff, said in a statement that "millions of Americans use cryptoassets and blockchain technology in legitimate ways that benefit our society and economy, and bad actors — who use misrepresentations, fraud or schemes — should not be tolerated."

The lawsuit alleges Bannon and Epshteyn used their public platforms and political following to promote a token first called Let’s Go Brandon Coin, or $FJB, and later rebranded as Patriot Pay, or $PPY.

According to the complaint, they induced purchases of “an unregistered, highly speculative asset under the guise of financial independence and community membership.”

In early 2025, the lawsuit said, the defendants disabled trading entirely, announced the project’s shutdown and promised investors a distribution of remaining liquidity that has not occurred.

Barr is seeking to represent a nationwide class of thousands of retail investors in the crypto tokens. The lawsuit alleges violations of securities, consumer protection and other laws, and seeks unspecified monetary damages.

The case is Andrew Barr v. Stephen Bannon et al, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 26-cv-452.

For plaintiff: Eric Rosen, Constantine Economides and Yusef Al-Jarani of Dynamis

For defendants: No appearances yet