Democrats Propose Bill to Ban Meme Coins Issued by US Officials
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy introduced a bill on Tuesday that would prohibit US presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress, and other federal officials from issuing meme coins and engaging in promoting or profiting from meme coins.
The bill, named the “Modern Emoluments and Misconduct Act” (“MEME Act”), would apply broadly to securities, futures, commodities, or digital assets. According to the text of the bill, it requires officials to “not attempt to use public office for financial gain.”
Murphy stated in a release that meme coin TRUMP issued by US President Donald Trump is a typical example of the self-serving behavior that the MEME Act aims to prohibit. According to CoinGecko data, the TRUMP token was launched days before Trump took office, built on the Solana blockchain, and currently has a market value of around $2.1 billion.
Trump is expected to attend a dinner later this month for the top 220 holders of the TRUMP token. When the news was first revealed by the behind-the-scenes team, TRUMP surged by as much as 73%. This raised questions about whether Trump benefited from it, with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren calling for an investigation. Last weekend, Trump reiterated his support for cryptocurrencies in an interview and denied profiting from cryptocurrencies.
Impact on US Cryptocurrency Legislation
Murphy’s criticism coincided with the House Financial Services Committee holding a hearing on cryptocurrency legislation on Tuesday, where several Democratic members collectively opposed Trump’s related cryptocurrency actions by walking out.
The active involvement of the Trump family in the cryptocurrency market may have posed a significant obstacle to the passage of related bills. Republican French Hill, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, admitted in a previous interview that the Trump family’s introduction of cryptocurrencies, including developing DeFi protocols, issued meme coins and NFTs, and the stablecoin USD1 introduced by the recent crypto project World Liberty Financial (WLFI) supported by the Trump family, has indeed made legislative work more complex. Source
Related report: “Trump’s ‘Crypto King’ Controversy Continues! Democrats Threaten to Withdraw from Crypto Legislation Hearing”