Gillibrand Renews Call for Ban on Politicians’ Crypto Ventures After Trump Earnings Report
Following revelations this week that President Donald Trump generated over $1.2 billion from his cryptocurrency activities last year, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has reiterated her call for a prohibition on the issuance and promotion of digital assets by politicians and their spouses.
The proposed ban would encompass meme coins, a sector from which both Trump and First Lady Melania Trump reportedly profited significantly over the past year. The president alone is said to have earned more than $635 million from a single Solana-based meme coin.
“This is a commonsense requirement that should get broad bipartisan support—public officials and their spouses should not be issuing meme coins,” Gillibrand stated in a press release.
She added, “We cannot let self-dealing destroy an opportunity to strengthen consumer protections, crack down on illicit finance, and expand economic opportunity for the millions of Americans our financial system has left behind.”
Gillibrand, recognized as one of the more pro-cryptocurrency Democratic senators, has been at the forefront of advocating for ethical conduct among congressional staff. Earlier this year, she spearheaded a bipartisan initiative to prevent members of Congress from trading on prediction markets, amid increasing concerns about potential insider trading. These concerns have been amplified by allegations that individuals close to the White House may be unfairly benefiting from non-public information.
She has also been a vocal proponent of banning stock trading for public officials while they are in office.
“The time to act is now—and that must include ethics reforms that prohibit members of Congress, the president, and their spouses from cashing in on their office,” she asserted.
Ethical considerations have also been a significant hurdle in advancing key cryptocurrency legislation, such as the Clarity Act market structure bill. In May, the senator indicated that the bill would not proceed without an ethics provision specifically addressing President Trump’s activities.
However, even as the bill advanced through a crucial Senate vote, an agreement on ethical guardrails for public officials had not yet been finalized. Despite this, researchers at Galaxy estimate the bill’s chances of passing this year have diminished to approximately 50-50, attributing the uncertainty to time constraints rather than issues with the bill’s content.
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