Solomon Samuel 
Bitcoin Magazine FedNow T-shirt. Source: Bitcoin Magazine
Bitcoin Magazine said on Nov. 3 that the US Federal Reserve gave it a cease-and-desist letter for trademark breaches. Bitcoin Magazine believes it is being targeted for using “FedNow” on “t-shirts, hats, and other wearables.”
The Federal Reserve’s rapid payment system, FedNow, is trademarked. Bitcoin Magazine sells items with the word “FedNow” with an eye instead of an “O.”
Bitcoin Magazine FedNow T-shirt. Source: Bitcoin Magazine
The post said the Fed claimed these items “mislead readers into believing a connection exists between the publication and the central bank.” Bitcoin Magazine’s lawyers wrote to the Fed to refute the claim.
As developed “for parody and political criticism directed at the Federal Reserve,” the merchandise is “undeniably parodic in nature,” the letter noted. The letter cited a “surveillance eye” in the drawings as proof.
In a separate open letter, Bitcoin Magazine called the eye an “all-seeing eye that symbolizes the state of total financial surveillance that [the Federal Reserve] is seeking to impose on the American financial system.”
The “all-seeing eye,” or “Eye of Providence,” is a motif on the reverse of a U.S. one-dollar bill and in Jacopo Pontormo’s 1525 painting Supper at Emmaus.
Bitcoin Magazine announced that it would continue to print and sell its “FedNow” goods because it believes it is First Amendment-protected free speech.
The Federal Reserve introduced FedNow in July as an interbank payment mechanism. It lets banks and money transmitters make instant payments without using the automated clearing house (ACH) system.
Eye of Providence on the back of a U.S. one-dollar bill. Source: Wikipedia
Bitcoin Magazine has called FedNow a “scam” that allows the government to “keep controlling you, your business, and everyone else’s” in its articles and videos.
Presidential contenders Ron Desantis and Robert Kennedy, Jr., have denounced FedNow. They allege it’s preparing for a central bank digital currency that will violate Americans’ privacy. The Fed denies a CBDC connection.
