U.S. Congressman plans to introduce a bill that would bar the president from trading or creating cryptocurrencies.
U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna is planning to introduce a bill that would prevent President Donald Trump, his family, and all members of Congress from participating in trading, owning, or creating cryptocurrencies.
Khanna’s proposal follows a sustained backlash over the recent pardoning of Binance’s former CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ).
CZ served four months in prison after being convicted of violating anti-money laundering laws in the U.S. Khanna revealed yesterday, through an interview, that the pardon was corrupt and accused the Trump administration of deep ethical breaches that involve the President’s family crypto interests.
Ro Khanna slams Trump’s pardon of Binance’s CZ as corruption
In an interview with MSNBC, Ro Khanna, a U.S. Congressman, announced legislation that would extend existing restrictions on stock trading for public officials to include digital assets and tokenized projects. This means that elected leaders’ spouses and immediate family members will not hold or launch cryptocurrency ventures while in office.
“This is blatant corruption. You don’t need to know a lot about cryptocurrency to understand what went on here. A convicted billionaire who funneled money to terrorists and child abusers gets pardoned after financially backing the president’s son’s crypto company.”
–Ro Khanna, U.S. Congressman
The ongoing backlash arose on October 24th when Trump decided to grant a full pardon to CZ after months of political lobbying and deliberation. Cryptopolitan reported that Binance had spent months crafting relationships with Trump’s inner circle and even offered technical support for World Liberty Financial, Trump’s family crypto firm.
According to the report, Binance allegedly hired lobbyist Ches McDowell to help sway the President’s perception of Zhao’s conviction, arguing that the prosecution made under Biden’s administration was politically motivated. Karoline Leavitt, the White House’s press secretary, defended the president’s decision, noting that Biden’s administration’s war on crypto is over.
Zhao expressed his gratitude to the President, saying he was grateful for the pardon and to Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and Justice. He promised to advance America as a global capital of crypto and Web3. The announcement of CZ’s release triggered the BNB coin to jump 8% that day.
Trump’s crypto ties with Binance reignite political and ethics scrutiny
Trump’s decision sparked renewed scrutiny over his close ties to the crypto ecosystem. His sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, are the heads of World Liberty Financial, which recently launched a stablecoin initiative. WLFI has received early liquidity and backend infrastructure support from Binance, a move that raises apparent conflicts of interest.
In March, former CFTC chair Timothy Massad warned that the president’s growing ambition in crypto projects posed an unprecedented conflict of interest. Based on a Cryptopolitan report, he argued that his ventures, including WLFI and the Trump meme coin, crossed the line between public office and private profit. Massad cautioned that such ambitions could defraud investors rather than benefit them, especially as the administration shapes national cryptocurrency policies.
Khanna argued that the recent connection between Trump and CZ, which led to the pardon, represents a textbook conflict of interest. He noted that foreign influence in the crypto market directly risks U.S. national security. He reiterated that allowing elected officials to benefit financially from such relationships is unacceptable. Congressman Khanna’s bill will address such ethical gaps, imposing broad prohibitions on digital asset ownership and participation for public officials.
The Trump administration has also rolled back several enforcement measures introduced during Biden’s presidency, such as dismantling enforcement initiatives initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department’s cryptocurrency unit.
Khanna’s proposed bill acknowledges that Zhao’s pardon isn’t just about one man but a signal that Washington’s stance on crypto is up for sale, and it’s therefore designed to restore public trust.
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