U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has renewed her call for Congress to ban elected officials and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring memecoins, after President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosure showed major income from crypto ventures. The issue has moved beyond a political argument over one token, becoming part of a wider debate over whether public officials should be allowed to profit from digital assets while they are also shaping crypto policy.
Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure showed more than $1.4 billion in income from crypto-related ventures. The disclosure included about $635 million from Trump meme coin sales and nearly $800 million from World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture linked to Trump and his sons. Gillibrand’s office said the memecoin income showed why Congress needs stronger ethics rules for officials involved in digital-asset markets.
Trump Disclosure Renews Conflict-of-Interest Debate
Gillibrand’s latest statement followed fresh reporting on Trump’s 2025 personal financial disclosure. Her office said Trump’s single largest source of income that year came from issuing a memecoin, raising new questions about the overlap between political power and private crypto profits.
The New York Democrat said elected officials and their spouses should not be allowed to issue or sponsor digital assets while holding public office. Her concern is that a politician’s name, public influence or policy position could help increase the value of a token from which that official may personally benefit.
The scrutiny has grown because Trump-linked crypto ventures extend beyond one memecoin. A recent investigation estimated that four Trump family-linked crypto projects, including World Liberty Financial and the TRUMP memecoin, generated about $2.3 billion for insiders while outside investors faced comparable losses across tokens and public-market vehicles.
The White House has denied that Trump or his family have engaged in conflicts of interest. Trump has also defended his family’s crypto earnings, saying there is “nothing wrong” with the profits and that outside investment managers handle his assets.
Democrats Push Ethics Rules for Crypto Legislation
Gillibrand’s proposal comes as Congress continues to debate broader crypto regulation. She wants ethics restrictions included in future digital-asset legislation, rather than treating official-linked memecoins as a separate political controversy.
Democrats have already introduced similar measures. The End Crypto Corruption Act, backed by Democratic lawmakers in 2025, sought to prevent the president, vice president, senior officials, members of Congress and their immediate families from financially benefiting from crypto assets they issue, endorse or sponsor.
The proposal has not become law. However, Trump’s latest disclosure has given supporters of the ban a fresh argument: crypto rules may face credibility problems if the same officials influencing policy can also profit from politically linked tokens.
SEC Memecoin Stance Adds Pressure on Congress
The debate is also shaped by uncertainty over how memecoins are regulated. According to the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, transactions in the types of memecoins described in its February 2025 staff statement generally do not involve securities offerings under federal law, meaning buyers may not receive federal securities-law protections.
That position drew criticism from inside the SEC. Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw said the staff statement offered an incomplete view of the law and did not provide a clear definition of what qualifies as a memecoin, leaving key legal questions unresolved.
The broader regulatory environment remains unsettled. The SEC has also delayed a proposed plan that would have allowed crypto firms to trade tokenized versions of U.S. stocks, after Wall Street firms raised concerns about investor protection, market fragmentation and the risks of crypto-based equity trading.
For Gillibrand and other lawmakers, those regulatory gaps strengthen the case for Congress to act directly. If memecoins are not always covered by securities rules, lawmakers may need separate ethics restrictions to stop public officials from using political visibility to benefit from token launches.
For now, Gillibrand’s proposed ban remains a political demand, not binding law. But Trump’s disclosure has made official-linked memecoins a live issue in Washington’s crypto debate, raising pressure on Congress to decide whether future crypto legislation should include rules for the people writing those laws.
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