Montreal's 'raccoon guy' collected over $110,000 in cryptocurrency fees

A Montreal man who has come to be known as the "raccoon guy" says he has made over $110,000 in transaction fees from an obscure cryptocurrency named after his adopted pet.

The "Pepper" coin was launched on Oct. 10 by an online trader using the name "Hiruzen," who said he named it after Louka Berman's raccoon.

The new cryptocurrency has allowed Berman to cash in on his new-found online popularity after months of taking care of the mammal, which he said he decided to adopt after finding it injured at a construction site last May.

The currency is listed on a platform called Pump.fun, which is on a warning list from Quebec's financial market regulator as a site that investors should avoid due to high risks.

Berman said Hiruzen contacted him and offered to partner with the raccoon owner to allow him to collect the transaction fees.

Berman's income from the cryptocurrency on Pump.fun is visible by adding up the transactions listed on his personal profile, which indicates he is receiving “creator rewards.”

He said he hadn't thought a lot about the financial risk for investors who are powering his new source of income.

"I didn't know how it worked," he said. "I don't want to be on the side of someone profiting from something that, in the end, will mean there are some people suffering."

He confirmed he has used about $20,000 of this money for personal expenses and to pay off debt. He said he is planning to use the rest of the money to build an animal sanctuary and that he has started the process of applying for permits to get the project off the ground, which he estimates would cost $400,000.

He said he has additional income through compensation he is getting from a previous workplace injury.

Berman said he had never expected something like this to happen and that he was grateful for the support the cryptocurrency got. 

“The feeling of relief … it’s pretty intense,” he said, adding that this money had been “life-changing.”

Quebec’s financial market regulator added the investment platform Pump.fun to its “Investor warnings” list on Sept. 25. The platform is not registered with the authority and is not allowed to solicit investors in the province, said spokesperson Sylvain Théberge. 

Théberge said the ease at which some platforms allow users to create cryptocurrency coins increases risks of financial loss. 

“(Investors) are venturing into extremely dangerous terrain with a company that is not registered in our country, with a business that does not meet the legal criteria to operate in Quebec. And, of course, if this leads to a financial loss for the investor on this platform, then you will not have any recourse,” he said.

The financial market authority can investigate these platforms if they receive a complaint of suspected fraud, and even shut them down if they find these platforms are breaking the law. But Théberge said the trading platforms often reappear under a new name.

Pump.fun did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

The Pepper coin had a peak value of around $2.8 million between Oct. 14 and 15.

On Wednesday, the currency's value had fallen to around $240,000 on Pump. Fun.

“It has clearly lost a lot of value over the past days,” said Katrin Tinn, professor at the McGill University’s management faculty.

“It’s very similar to other cryptocurrencies which don't have something backing them — it really depends on the interest of other people to buy it for speculative purposes,” she added.

When asked about people who may have lost money, Berman said if they hadn't invested in the Pepper coin, they might have lost money on another cryptocurrency such as Dogecoin, the Trump cryptocurrency or "something that wouldn't have gone to a project to help wild animals."

The Dogecoin was openly created as a joke but continues to sell, with a market value of around $15 billion, according to cryptocurrency tracker CoinGecko.

“You're buying, effectively, a hope to sell it to somebody else later on in the future,” Tinn said. 

She added she worries the Pepper coin might mislead people into thinking they are supporting Berman directly when only a fraction of their investment is going to help the raccoon. 

“People might be thinking that if they are sending $100 to this token, they are giving $100 dollars to the raccoon, which is clearly not happening,” she said.

If the goal is to raise money, she said crowdfunding would be more straightforward and transparent.

But Berman said the Pepper coin has allowed him to reach a new community that now seems deeply invested in his story. Compared to the tens of thousands he said he has made with the coin, an online fundraiser on the platform GoFundMe, which a user started for Berman on Oct. 15, had raised close to $3,500 as of Wednesday. 

The Canadian Press contacted the creator of the cryptocurrency using an email address they had used to communicate with Berman.

They agreed to an interview and defended the creation of the currency, but declined to give their real name.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2026.

By Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.