Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced legislation Monday seeking to bar public officials, including the president and his family, from certain cryptocurrency-related activities amid growing concerns about President Trump’s involvement in the industry.
The Curbing Officials’ Income and Nondisclosure (COIN) Act would prohibit the president, vice president, high-ranking executive branch employees, special government employees and members of Congress from issuing, sponsoring or endorsing digital assets.
These restrictions also would extend to the immediate family members of public officials.
“President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency dealings have raised significant ethical, legal and constitutional concerns over his use of the office of the presidency to enrich himself and his family,” Schiff said in a statement.
“That’s why I am introducing legislation to prevent the financial exploitation of any digital assets by public officials, including the president and the First Family,” he continued. “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.”
Trump and his family have increasingly expanded their footprint in the crypto space, as his administration has pushed to create a more favorable regulatory environment for the industry, including through legislation.
The president and his sons launched a crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, last fall, which has since released a stablecoin. Trump has earned about $57 million from the venture, according to a recent financial disclosure.
He also launched a meme coin shortly before his inauguration and held a dinner with the top investors in the $TRUMP token last month.
Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, has raised $2.5 billion to create a bitcoin reserve and has taken steps toward launching several crypto-related financial assets.
Meanwhile, lawmakers have taken up the mantle of crypto legislation, with several Senate Democrats, including Schiff, joining Republicans to pass a bill creating a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins.
Despite efforts by Democrats to add language to the bill barring the president and public officials from profiting from digital assets, it ultimately cleared the upper chamber without such restrictions.
That bill, called the GENIUS Act, now heads to the House, where Trump has urged lawmakers to quickly pass the legislation with few changes.
Schiff benefited from the crypto industry’s spending in his primary last year, in which the crypto super PAC Fairshake spent $10 million against his opponent, former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.).
