- A group of 20 Democratic senators introduced legislation on May 7, which, if passed, would see senior government officials, including the President and Vice President, banned from launching or promoting cryptocurrency projects.
- The bill would also apply to certain government employees, including special government employees (SGEs) such as Elon Musk — with breaches attracting civil and criminal penalties.
- The bill follows similar legislation introduced to the House in February and comes in response to increasing concerns around coins like $TRUMP and $MELANIA and the WLFI DeFi project.
A group of 20 US Democrat senators have introduced a bill that seeks to ban senior government officials and their families from launching and promoting their own cryptocurrencies.
The ‘End Crypto Corruption Act of 2025’ bill was introduced to the Senate on May 7 as part of an effort from the Democrats to fight what they see as the growing issue of Trump administration insiders profiteering from crypto.
In its current form the bill would prevent the President, Vice President, individuals in Senate-confirmed positions and “certain other special government employees in the Executive Office, plus their spouses and dependent children from issuing, sponsoring, or endorsing any cryptocurrencies or other digital assets.”
Notably the bill would apply to Elon Musk in his Special Government Employee (SGE) role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Regular buying and selling of cryptocurrencies would still be permitted:
The term ‘prohibited financial transaction’ does not include the mere purchase, sale, holding or other conduct relating to financial instruments or assets routinely accessible to any member of the public.
End Crypto Corruption Act of 2025
The ban would apply for a year after affected government officials’ terms conclude and breaches would include the possibility of substantial civil and criminal penalties.
Related: Trump‑linked Crypto Windfall Triggers Democratic Mutiny, Puts GENIUS Act on the Brink
Bill Primarily Targeting Trump Family Crypto Ties
This latest proposal to ban senior government officials from creating and promoting crypto projects follows similar legislation introduced to the House in February.
While these proposals would cover many government officials, they’re largely a response to the crypto dealings of Donald Trump and his immediate family. The launch of the $TRUMP and $MELANIA memecoins on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration, in particular, raised concerns over crypto projects enabling potential foreign influence, corruption and bribery.
In a statement to Politico, Democratic Senator Jon Ossof said “the sitting president appears to be selling personal cryptocurrency while in office, granting access to people who buy it, and thereby enriching his business and his family. It’s gobsmacking.”
“I’d like to hear one Republican senator defend it. Any self-respecting Congress would demand an accounting of everyone trading this coin who has any business before the government,” Ossof added.
Even the staunchly pro-crypto and pro-Trump Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis said the recent announcement that the top holders of the $TRUMP memecoin will be invited to dine privately with Donald Trump and given a personal tour of the White House gave her “pause”.
It’s not clear how the bill would impact Donald Trump’s role as ‘Chief Crypto Advocate’ at World Liberty Financial (WLFI) — the DeFi project partly owned and operated by Trump’s sons.
WLFI has raised corruption concerns recently after it facilitated a US$2 billion investment by an Abu Dhabi-backed firm in the crypto exchange Binance using WLFI’s own stablecoin WLD1. That transaction prompted a group of Democrats to write to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding answers about the Trump administration’s ties to Binance.
Related: Crypto Chaos on Capitol Hill: Partisan Split Deepens Over Trump’s Digital Asset Ties
Last week a group of Democrats led by Maxine Waters walked out of a bipartisan roundtable on crypto regulation citing concerns that Republicans weren’t taking Donald Trump’s conflicts of interest related to crypto seriously.
Also, stablecoin legislation, known as the GENIUS Act, failed to pass the Senate last week. Several Democratic senators who had previously supported the bill removed their support after Republicans tried to fast track the bill’s passage, claiming it needed more work to add adequate money laundering safeguards and address national security risks.
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