JOE Sinks as Retailer Trader Joe’s Sues Namesake DEX

U.S. supermarket chain Trader Joe’s filed a complaint last week against decentralized exchange (DEX) Trader Joe, alleging federal trademark infringement.

“Defendants operate a cryptocurrency platform called “Trader Joe” and use the domain name traderjoexyz.com,” the filing read. “Defendants named the platform “after the supermarket”—none other than Trader Joe’s—and developed a narrative around a fictionalized “Trader Joe” who sells his crops in the local marketplace, further evoking Trader Joe’s business and brand.”

The complaint could negatively impact prices of Trader Joe’s JOE tokens, which are down 4.5% in the past week, as traders may react to the legal orders.

Trader Joe is one of the most popular decentralized exchanges, originally starting on the Avalanche network before expanding to BNB Chain, Arbitrum and Ethereum.

It holds over $77 million in various tokens across offered chains and processed over $25 million in trades in September, data shows.

(Sandali Handagama contributed reporting.)