Representative Ro Khanna’s bill would prohibit U.S. elected officials and their families from owning, trading, or creating cryptocurrencies to curb conflicts of interest and address recent controversies involving President Trump’s pardon of Changpeng Zhao.
U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) is introducing legislation to bar the President, Members of Congress, and their immediate families from owning, trading, creating, or accepting foreign-backed cryptocurrencies while in office. The proposal follows President Donald Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who served four months after pleading guilty to violating U.S. banking laws. Zhao’s backing of World Liberty Financial, a crypto project from Trump’s sons, has drawn scrutiny. Khanna’s bill seeks to prevent what he calls “blatant corruption” by separating public service from private crypto gain, mirroring past attempts to restrict lawmakers’ stock trading, such as the STOCK Act and Senator Josh Hawley’s PELOSI Act.