California Senator Adam Schiff introduced the COIN Act to stop influential U.S. leaders and their families from doing crypto business while in office. The bill targets the president, vice president, and their immediate relatives. It seeks to prevent misuse of power for personal crypto profits amidst widespread indignation over politicians enriching themselves with digital assets.
The COIN Act features a complete ban on issuing, sponsoring, or promoting cryptocurrencies, NFTs, meme coins, and stablecoins. The proposed law also requires public reporting of all crypto deals worth more than \$1,000. Wrongdoers may face both fines to the value of their profit and imprisonment for a period of five years.
Senator Schiff tied his legislation directly to former President Donald Trump’s increasing involvement in the crypto space. Public records revealed that Trump earned $58 million in 2024 from cryptocurrency ventures, largely from WLFI token offerings. This income ranked just behind his hotel receipts and will grow with a \$390 million token launch next year.
COIN act targets presidential Crypto business interests
Despite the illicit profits of Trump, his critics are concerned with potential conflicts of interest involving his internet assets. Observers have noted that Trump’s crypto-linked businesses appeared to benefit from regulatory decisions made during his time in office.
His projects include tokenized assets, Bitcoin mining, and digital ETFs, raising serious ethical and legal questions. Last week, Schiff voted in favor of the GENIUS Act, which sets a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
However, that bill does not restrict the President or Vice President, causing tension within Democratic ranks. Democrats initially resisted the GOP-backed bill due to its lack of restrictions on presidential crypto dealings, but later supported it under political pressure.
Now, Schiff’s COIN Act has gained the support of nine other Senate Democrats, seven of whom also backed the GENIUS Act. Other Democrat-led proposals like the MEME Act and the Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act aim to regulate Trump’s crypto activity but face little chance in a Republican-led Congress.
