Presidential meme coins should be against the law, House Democrat says
 [February 27, 2025]
By ALAN SUDERMAN
California Democrat Rep. Sam Liccardo, a freshman congressman who
represents Silicon Valley, said he’s surprised the first piece of
legislation he’s sponsoring takes aim at President Donal Trump’s meme
coin.
“That wasn’t my plan when I ran for office, I can assure you,” said
Liccardo, the former mayor of San Jose.
But the president’s launch of a meme coin just before taking office last
month needed some kind of response, said Liccardo. Those who bought the
meme coin right after launch made out, but the price quickly dropped
leaving others with big losses. Even Trump-supporting crypto enthusiasts
found the launch distasteful.
“That behavior is so self-evidently unethical that it raises the
question why isn’t there a clear enough prohibition,” he said, adding
that Trump’s meme coin raises concerns about transparency, insider
trading and improper foreign influence.
The bill is set to be called the Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance
Enforcement, or MEME act. According to a draft of the legislation, it
would block the president, members of Congress, and other senior
officials, as well as their spouses and children, from issuing or
sponsoring securities, commodities and cryptocurrencies like meme coins.
It would also force Trump to disgorge any profits he’s made from the
sale of his meme coins.
Liccardo’s bill, which he plans to introduce Thursday, has no chance of
passing in this Republican-controlled Congress. But the freshman
lawmaker said it would serve as a placeholder if Democrats come to power
as well an important symbolic gesture against what he called obvious
corruption. His bill comes amid a fractured Democratic Party struggling
to find its footing in the early weeks of the Trump presidency.
Meme coins are a strange and highly volatile corner of the crypto
industry that often start as a joke with no real value but can surge in
price if enough people are willing to buy them. Critics view them as
nothing more than Ponzi schemes that enrich insiders and unethical
celebrities. Supporters say meme coins could be early indicators of ways
in which the internet could revolutionize financial and other
transactions.
Trump has long defied presidential norms when it comes to endorsing and
promoting products like branded Bibles and perfume. But he’s leaned in
particularly hard with cryptocurrency-related projects that could
significantly boost his personal wealth.
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The Trump meme coin quickly soared in price to nearly $70 shortly after
it was launched but has since fallen to about $12. Researchers have
estimated that trading fees have generated tens of millions of dollars
for entities that launched the coin, including a company owned by Trump.
Trump and his sons also helped launch a decentralized finance
cryptocurrency platform last year, and the president has backed online
stores that sell crypto-themed sneakers and $100,000 watches.
The Trump family business recently released an ethics agreement that
prohibits Trump from “day-to-day” decision-making involving outside
business deals and limits financial information shared with him.
Once a skeptic of cryptocurrencies, Trump changed course and promised
last year to make the U.S. the world capital of digital assets. The
cryptocurrency industry, which felt unfairly targeted by the Biden
administration, embraced Trump and spent heavily to help him win last
year’s election.
First Lady Melania Trump also launched a meme coin that spiked in value
around the inauguration but has since cratered. A crypto developer who
said he helped launch that meme coin was also involved in a disastrous
meme coin launch that’s led to Argentine President Javier Milei facing a
corruption probe.
That developer, Hayden Davis, has said meme coins are essentially a
rigged game that benefit a small group of people at the expense of
retail investors.
“It is an insiders’ game. This is an unregulated casino,” Davis said.
Besides a criminal prohibition, Liccardo’s bill would also allow private
investors who lose money on a meme coin backed by a public official to
sue. Liccardo said that’s a key part of the legislation, given what he
sees as a lack of independence in the current Justice Department.
“You need to have some enforcement mechanism and a private right of
action helps to keep everybody honest,” Liccardo said.
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