Jess Jiang

Over the next several hours, DEC officers made Mark and his wife stand by as they scoured the property in search of Mark's celebrity squirrel.

The DEC officers did not let Mark take Peanut out of state. Instead, they took Peanut and Fred into custody. And after a few days of waiting and wondering where they'd been taken, a local news reporter calls Mark with some unsettling news.

The DEC officers did not let Mark take Peanut out of state. Instead, they took Peanut and Fred into custody. And after a few days of waiting and wondering where they'd been taken, a local news reporter calls Mark with some unsettling news.

The DEC officers did not let Mark take Peanut out of state. Instead, they took Peanut and Fred into custody. And after a few days of waiting and wondering where they'd been taken, a local news reporter calls Mark with some unsettling news.

We reached out to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, but they didn't get back to us. According to a statement from the department, Peanut had bitten someone involved with the investigation. And as part of a protocol to test whether Peanut or Fred had rabies, both of them had been euthanized.

We reached out to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, but they didn't get back to us. According to a statement from the department, Peanut had bitten someone involved with the investigation. And as part of a protocol to test whether Peanut or Fred had rabies, both of them had been euthanized.

We reached out to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, but they didn't get back to us. According to a statement from the department, Peanut had bitten someone involved with the investigation. And as part of a protocol to test whether Peanut or Fred had rabies, both of them had been euthanized.

Mark takes to social media to tell the world what had happened, and pretty soon, the story goes absolutely viral.

Mark takes to social media to tell the world what had happened, and pretty soon, the story goes absolutely viral.

Mark takes to social media to tell the world what had happened, and pretty soon, the story goes absolutely viral.

Did you ever imagine that Peanut might find an afterlife on the blockchain?

Did you ever imagine that Peanut might find an afterlife on the blockchain?

Did you ever imagine that Peanut might find an afterlife on the blockchain?

Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. You can think of the story of Peanut the Squirrel as a kind of modern parable, a tale about how a chance encounter can change your life, bring you fame and fortune, but also how that attention can spin wildly out of your control.

Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. You can think of the story of Peanut the Squirrel as a kind of modern parable, a tale about how a chance encounter can change your life, bring you fame and fortune, but also how that attention can spin wildly out of your control.

Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. You can think of the story of Peanut the Squirrel as a kind of modern parable, a tale about how a chance encounter can change your life, bring you fame and fortune, but also how that attention can spin wildly out of your control.

Today on the show, how an anonymous baby rodent rose to become a world-famous animal influencer, then a political martyr, and finally, a piece of cryptocurrency worth billions of dollars, joining the ranks of Dogecoin, Hoctua, and President Donald Trump. And what all of this says about the brave, new, kind of terrifying attention economy we are all living in.

Today on the show, how an anonymous baby rodent rose to become a world-famous animal influencer, then a political martyr, and finally, a piece of cryptocurrency worth billions of dollars, joining the ranks of Dogecoin, Hoctua, and President Donald Trump. And what all of this says about the brave, new, kind of terrifying attention economy we are all living in.

Today on the show, how an anonymous baby rodent rose to become a world-famous animal influencer, then a political martyr, and finally, a piece of cryptocurrency worth billions of dollars, joining the ranks of Dogecoin, Hoctua, and President Donald Trump. And what all of this says about the brave, new, kind of terrifying attention economy we are all living in.

It's one of the bushiest tales we've ever told. About a month ago, freelance reporter Nick Nevis and I took a trip to Peanuts Freedom Farm in upstate New York. We were there to visit Mark Longo and see the tiny empire that his Celebrity Squirrels fame helped build, the house that Peanut built.