Democratic senator introduces bill targeting Trump’s crypto ties, seeking to ban officials from endorsing crypto projects

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Quick Take

  • Sen. Adam Schiff introduced a bill aimed at prohibiting public officials and their family members from promoting or issuing crypto assets.
  • Schiff said it’s necessary to implement “greater scrutiny of the president’s financial dealings.”

Democrat Senator Adam Schiff introduced legislation on Monday, seeking to prohibit public officials, including the president and their immediate family, from issuing or endorsing crypto assets.

In a statement released Monday, the senator said that the Curbing Officials’ Income and Nondisclosure (COIN) Act aims to bar top public officials from "issuing, sponsoring, or endorsing digital assets, including meme coins, NFTs, or stablecoins." The proposed prohibition would cover a 180-day period before and two years after an individual's term.

Schiff's move to introduce the legislation, cosponsored by nine other Democratic senators, came just a week after he voted in favor of the GENIUS Act, a landmark stablecoin bill that had previously been halted due to scrutiny over Trump's crypto interests. The bill eventually passed with bipartisan support and advanced to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

However, Schiff argued that Trump's crypto ventures have sparked considerable ethical, legal, and constitutional questions regarding his exploitation of presidential power for personal enrichment. "We need far greater scrutiny of the president’s financial dealings, and to stop him and any other politician from profiting off of such schemes," he said.

Trump-tied World Liberty Financial has shown great ambition in expanding in the crypto space. It launched the USD1 stablecoin in March and recently airdropped the stablecoin to wallets that participated in the sale of the project's native token WLFI. USD1 currently has a market capitalization of $2.2 billion, according to CoinGecko data.

According to Trump's latest financial disclosure, he made $57.35 million from World Liberty Financial's token sales in 2024.

Several other lawmakers have also proposed legislation with a similar intent to Schiff’s bill. Dem. Representative Ritchie Torres, for example, introduced a bill last month seeking to "stop presidential profiteering from crypto." With Democrats in the minority in both the Senate and the House, it may take considerable work for these bills to advance effectively.


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© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

AUTHOR

Timmy Shen is an Asia editor for The Block. Previously, he wrote about crypto and Web3 for Forkast.News from Taiwan after spending more than three years in Beijing covering finance, entertainment business and current affairs at Caixin Global and Chinese tech at TechNode. His China-related reporting has also appeared in The Guardian. When he's not chasing headlines, you'll find him savoring hot pot and shabu shabu in a Taipei local haunt. Timmy holds an MS degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Send tips to [email protected] or get in touch on X/Telegram @timmyhmshen.

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To contact the editor of this story: Vishal Chawla at [email protected]

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