A United States lawmaker has introduced legislation aimed at prohibiting President Donald Trump, his family, and members of Congress from trading cryptocurrencies or stocks.
US Representative Ro Khanna announced his intention to introduce this legislation, stating, "I am today introducing legislation to ban the president, his family, members of Congress, and all elected officials from trading crypto or stocks." He shared a clip of his appearance on MSNBC where he discussed his reasoning.
Concerns Over Conflicts of Interest and Corruption Allegations
Khanna, a Democratic representative from California and vice-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, expressed significant concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest involving President Trump and cryptocurrency. He specifically cited his son's crypto project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), and alleged that the recent pardon of Binance co-founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao constituted "blatant corruption."
"You’ve got a foreign billionaire who was basically engaged in money-laundering," Khanna stated regarding CZ, adding, "then he petitions for a pardon from Donald Trump after basically funneling money to terrorists."
However, CZ has recently pushed back against similar accusations from Senator Elizabeth Warren, asserting that she "can’t get her facts right." CZ had previously pleaded guilty to a single felony count of violating the US Bank Secrecy Act for failing to implement an effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program at Binance.
Khanna further alleged that CZ was being allowed to avoid severe consequences due to Binance's financial support of WLFI, a sentiment echoed by US Representative Maxine Waters.
"And what he does is he says ‘I’m going to support World Liberty,’ which is the president’s son’s cryptocurrency firm, which they’re making millions of dollars on while Donald Trump is president. And Donald Trump gives him a pardon while he is basically financing Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency stablecoin."
While Trump has faced criticism regarding his alleged ties to WLFI on multiple occasions, his son Eric Trump has consistently denied any involvement of his father with the project. In a September interview, Eric Trump emphasized that his father "is running a nation. He's not involved in our businesses in any way, shape or form."
Khanna did not elaborate on the specific details of his legislative proposal but was unequivocal in his call for a ban on "any elected official from having cryptocurrency and accepting foreign money."
According to government records, Khanna's bill has not yet been officially introduced.
The Broader Debate on Government Officials and Trading
The question of whether government officials should be permitted to engage in investments, particularly in markets like stocks, has been a subject of considerable debate for an extended period.
This discussion is currently active in the US through a bipartisan congressional stock trading bill, which is anticipated to be put to a vote soon.
To illustrate the complexity of the issue, while Khanna has been critical of Trump's alleged crypto ties, he also has his own significant investments in the stock market, raising questions about potential hypocrisy.
Data from Quiver Quant indicates that Khanna has engaged in stock trades totaling $80.3 million in volume during 2025. Since becoming a representative for California in 2017, Khanna has executed over 35,000 trades, with a total volume exceeding $580 million. His most frequently traded sectors include financials, information technology, and healthcare.
