California’s Sep. 27 signing of AB 2409 has intensified scrutiny of political memecoins, with Global Settlement Network CEO and co-founder Ryan Kirkley arguing that lawmakers should target conflicts of interest rather than impose broad restrictions on digital assets. The law restricts California listings of certain memecoins issued on or after Jan. 1, 2027, when offered by or in partnership with federal, state or local public officials. Kirkley says the central concern is whether an official’s public authority, visibility or influence helps create a token’s market value while generating a personal financial benefit. He favors rules covering ownership, promotion, control, disclosure and financial gain. California’s law addresses elected and appointed state and local officers, while its definition of covered employees is narrower and applies to workers with decision-making authority over bids and contracts. Kirkley also says regulators should classify digital assets by economic function, underlying value and use, distinguishing attention-driven memecoins from tokenized financial assets, payment stablecoins and institutional settlement infrastructure. His comments come as U.S. policymakers separately consider digital-asset provisions in the proposed CLARITY Act and cross-border tokenized-finance recommendations involving the SEC, CFTC, Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England.