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A US senator is pushing legislation to bar elected officials from issuing cryptocurrency tokens, after President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump launched meme coins.
Cointelegraph reported on July 3 that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York formally proposed banning elected officials and their spouses from issuing or endorsing digital assets. The restriction would cover the sitting president and the president’s spouse, but not the vice president or other family members.
Gillibrand said it should be common sense that public officials and their spouses must not issue meme coins and that the proposal should draw bipartisan support. Public officials should not be allowed to use their insider status to seek private gain in the industry, she added.
Gillibrand is also participating in Senate negotiations over the CLARITY Act. The bill has been delayed by disagreements over ethics issues, tokenization and stablecoin rewards. She said she hopes the Senate can vote before the August district work period, but made clear the measure will be difficult to pass unless the ethics issue is resolved.
During debate last year on the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin regulation bill, Gillibrand also argued that Trump’s meme coin, Official Trump (TRUMP), was likely illegal under current law. Still, the Senate removed provisions directly targeting Trump’s ties to the crypto industry, and Trump later signed the GENIUS Act.
