Key Takeaways
- U.S. Senator Gillibrand is urging Congress to prohibit elected officials and spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets.
- The proposal gained momentum after disclosures showed Donald Trump earned $636 million from a memecoin during 2025.
- Congress has yet to adopt the ethics measure, leaving the role of public officials in crypto under debate.
Why Trump’s Crypto Earnings Intensified the Ethics Debate
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) renewed her push on July 3, 2026, to prohibit elected officials and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets. The renewed effort followed new reporting on President Donald Trump’s financial disclosures, which listed $636 million from a memecoin as his largest source of income in 2025.
Gillibrand’s proposal would apply to the president, members of Congress, and their spouses, making it illegal for them to issue or sponsor digital assets, including memecoins. The disclosures also reported that First Lady Melania Trump issued her own memecoin and separately earned $6 million from non-fungible tokens ( NFTs) and other digital collectibles.
Those disclosures prompted Gillibrand to argue that ethics standards should accompany any broader cryptocurrency legislation, stating:
“This is a commonsense requirement that should get broad bipartisan support – public officials and their spouses should not be issuing memecoins.”
How Gillibrand’s Ethics Campaign Has Evolved
Gillibrand’s latest proposal follows more than a year of efforts to add ethics restrictions to federal cryptocurrency legislation. In May 2025, she joined Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) as a co-sponsor of the End Crypto Corruption Act, which sought to prohibit the president, members of Congress, and their families from issuing or endorsing digital assets, including memecoins and stablecoins.
During Senate consideration of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act in 2025, Gillibrand pushed to retain provisions addressing President Trump’s cryptocurrency ventures. Those provisions were ultimately removed after some senators argued that detailing all of Trump’s potential conflicts would make the legislation overly lengthy and complex. Trump later signed the GENIUS Act into law in July 2025.
The New York senator reiterated her position during the Consensus Miami conference in May 2026, telling industry participants that the proposed Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act would not pass the Senate without ethics provisions covering the president’s personal cryptocurrency activities. The remarks underscored her effort to tie ethics standards to broader digital asset legislation.
Will Ethics Rules Become Part of Crypto Legislation?
The senator has long advocated for stronger oversight of the cryptocurrency industry, arguing that the sector lacks adequate consumer protections and increasingly operates beyond the reach of U.S. law. She has also led a bipartisan bill targeting newly created prediction markets and backed proposals to ban members of Congress and their spouses from owning or trading individual stocks while in office.
The memecoin ban proposal has not been enacted, leaving its future in the hands of Congress. Gillibrand said lawmakers should move quickly, emphasizing:
“The time to act is now — and that must include ethics reforms that prohibit members of Congress, the president, and their spouses from cashing in on their office.”
Whether those ethics restrictions become part of future cryptocurrency legislation remains uncertain. Congressional action will determine whether federal officials are ultimately barred from issuing or sponsoring digital assets while serving in office.
