Democrats unveil COIN Act to block Trump and public officials from profiting off crypto

Democratic lawmakers have proposed legislation that seeks to block U.S. public officials, including the President, from profiting off digital assets during and after their time in office.

Dubbed the Curbing Officials’ Income and Nondisclosure, or COIN, Act, the legislation came in response to concerns over President Donald Trump’s financial ties to cryptocurrency ventures.

The bill was introduced by Senator Adam Schiff and co-sponsored by nine other Democratic lawmakers, following reports that Trump earned $57.4 million in 2024 through World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform linked to his family.

Schiff said the president’s digital asset activities have raised serious ethical and constitutional concerns, pointing to what he described as Trump’s use of public office for personal financial gain.

The COIN Act has been tailored to prevent what its sponsors call the “financial exploitation of digital assets” by elected officials and their immediate families.

According to the text of the COIN Act, the legislation would prohibit current and former public officials, including the president, vice president, members of Congress, and high-ranking executive officials, from issuing, sponsoring, or promoting digital assets such as meme coins, NFTs, and stablecoins.

This restriction would apply for 180 days prior to taking office and continue for two years after leaving office. Immediate family members would also be subject to the same rules.

Further, the bill would amend the Ethics in Government Act to require digital assets to be included in financial disclosures and transaction reports. It also proposes codifying that holding or trading crypto qualifies as a financial interest under conflict of interest laws, requiring officials to recuse themselves from related decisions.

Additionally, the legislation would require stablecoin issuers to certify quarterly that no public official is profiting from the issuance of their tokens in order to receive regulatory approval. 

A separate provision calls for the Government Accountability Office to submit a report to Congress within 360 days, offering recommendations on how to update federal ethics laws as crypto oversight frameworks develop.

Pressure to introduce such guardrails has been building for months, driven largely by Democratic lawmakers alarmed by Trump’s expanding crypto portfolio. 

Earlier this year, Rep. Maxine Waters accused Trump of using his memecoin, $TRUMP, to enrich himself while defrauding investors.

In April, Waters raised alarms over World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin, warning that the token could become a tool for foreign actors to channel funds to the president. 

She has also condemned Trump’s private gala for top $TRUMP memecoin holders, calling it a “pay-to-play scheme” that blurred the line between campaign fundraising and political favour-trading.

These concerns have already translated into multiple Democratic-led legislative efforts. Waters and other lawmakers have backed bills such as the MEME Act, led by Rep. Sam Liccardo, and the Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act, both aimed at barring public officials and their families from owning or promoting digital assets while in office.

Despite repeated objections, Trump has continued to expand his footprint in the digital asset sector. His family has backed multiple crypto ventures, including stablecoins and a reported stake in a Bitcoin mining project. 

Blockchain data has linked prominent crypto industry figures, including Tron founder Justin Sun, to large holdings of Trump-affiliated tokens.