US Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) has publicly announced his intention to introduce legislation that would prohibit the President, their family, and members of Congress from trading cryptocurrencies or stocks.
Khanna, a prominent member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, raised his concerns on MSNBC, alleging a conflict of interest involving President Donald Trump and the crypto sector. Specifically, he focused on the crypto project World Liberty Financial (WLFI), which is associated with Trump's son, Eric.
The lawmaker made a strong accusation, linking the project to the recent pardon of Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao as an act of "blatant corruption." Khanna stated that CZ, who had pled guilty to a felony count for failing to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program at Binance, was being pardoned because Binance was allegedly financing WLFI. He claimed the pardon was granted while Trump's son's firm was "making millions of dollars."
This assertion echoes similar concerns raised by US Representative Maxine Waters. However, Eric Trump has repeatedly denied his father has any connection to WLFI, stressing that the former president is focused on national matters and is not involved in his children's businesses.
The article also notes that CZ has pushed back against similar accusations from other lawmakers, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, claiming they had their facts wrong.
Khanna's proposed ban would prevent "any elected official from having cryptocurrency and accepting foreign money." While he did not detail the legislative text, government records indicate that the bill has not yet been officially introduced.
The debate over officials' investment activity is not new; a bipartisan congressional stock trading bill is currently awaiting a vote in the US. The article highlights the complexity of the issue by pointing out that Khanna himself has a significant history of stock trading, with over $580 million in total volume since 2017, potentially raising questions of hypocrisy given his call for a ban.
October 2025, Cryptoniteuae