Senator Gillibrand proposes legislation to ban elected officials, including Trump, from launching meme coins following disclosure of $1B+ in crypto earnings.
Regulation & Gov ·
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is renewing calls to ban elected officials and their spouses from issuing or promoting crypto assets, a push triggered by Trump's disclosure this week that he earned over $1.2 billion from crypto ventures last year, including more than $635 million from a Solana-based meme coin. Gillibrand, described as among the most pro-crypto Democratic senators, framed the measure as a commonsense ethics requirement, arguing that public officials should not use their positions to profit from digital asset launches while the financial system leaves millions of Americans behind.
The proposal extends a broader ethics campaign by Gillibrand, who has previously led bipartisan efforts to restrict congressional prediction market trading and stock trading by sitting officials over concerns about self-dealing and insider trading. An ethics provision was a sticking point in negotiations over the Clarity Act market structure bill; when the bill advanced through a key Senate vote, no agreement on guardrails for public officials had been finalized, and Galaxy researchers cited a 50-50 chance of passage this year due to lack of time rather than disagreement on substance.
It remains unclear whether Gillibrand's renewed ban proposal will gain the bipartisan backing she expects, or whether ethics provisions will be formally included in any major crypto legislation advancing through Congress.