Senate Dems propose ban on presidents investing or endorsing crypto assets

After abruptly pulling their enactment from what would person been the Senate’s archetypal stablecoin regulatory bill, Senate Democrats announced Tuesday that they would present a caller measure that would forestall national officials and their families from issuing integer assets – a measure directed astatine Donald Trump and his family’s existent stablecoin and meme coin holdings.

“Currently, radical who privation to cultivate power with the president tin enrich him personally by buying cryptocurrency helium owns oregon controls,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who introduced the measure to the Senate floor, in a property release. “This is simply a profoundly corrupt scheme. It endangers our nationalist information and erodes nationalist spot successful government. Let’s extremity this corruption immediately.”

The End Crypto Corruption Act comes successful effect to concerns wrong the Democratic enactment that the GENIUS Act, which antecedently had beardown bipartisan support, was inadequate astatine preventing corruption. Though the Senate Banking Committee passed the measure successful March with a bipartisan vote, 2 consequent developments reportedly pushed the Democrats to alteration course. First, a New York Times report past week revealed that the Trump household could perchance gain $2 cardinal from a stablecoin transaction with a Dubai-based concern steadfast nether the existent regulatory framework. Second, Trump announced a contest successful April wherein the apical holders of his meme coin would triumph a backstage meal with the president, and the apical 25 holders would triumph an further guided circuit of the White House. According to a study from Chainalysis, the meme coin’s issuers, Official Trump, person earned $320 cardinal from trading fees from the contention alone.

Though they admitted that there’s not overmuch they tin bash to halt the president close present (see: nary laws), Senate Republicans besides expressed skepticism implicit the $TRUMP contention to NBC, and astatine slightest 1 staunch Trump ally, Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, offered to spouse with the Democrats connected efforts to modulate lawmakers holding integer assets. “Even what whitethorn look to beryllium ‘cringey’ with respect to meme coins, it’s legal, and what we request to bash is person a regulatory model that makes this much clear, truthful we don’t person this Wild West scenario,” she told NBC.