Democrats aim at Trump’s crypto profits with a 3-prong pincer move
US Democrat lawmakers have launched a multi-angle attack on President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures with two bills and a subcommittee inquiry aimed at cutting his ability to profit from the initiatives.
The Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement Act, or the MEME Act, aims to prevent federal officials from using their position to profit from memecoins, Democrat Senator Chris Murphy said in a May 6 statement.
If passed, the MEME Act prohibits the president, vice president, members of Congress, senior executive branch officials, their spouses and children from issuing, sponsoring, or promoting a security, future, commodity, or digital asset, according to the bill’s description.
Today I’m introducing a bill – the MEME Act – to ban a President or Member of Congress from issuing a meme coin.
The Trump Coin is the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the White House. @RepLiccardo and I are determined to put an end to this corruption – for good. pic.twitter.com/nQL9ZfIYYV
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 6, 2025
Violators could face civil penalties of up to $250,000 and be required to fork over any profits to the US Treasury. Criminal penalties could also apply, including fines and up to five years behind bars.
US Representative Sam Liccardo, another Democrat, introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives. However, Trump’s party, the Republicans, controls both chambers, and the legislation will need Republican support.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, a ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), said in a May 6 statement that the committee is opening a preliminary inquiry into the Official Trump (TRUMP) token, Trump-backed platform World Liberty Financial (WLFI), and other associated business ventures.
As part of the inquiry, the PSI sent letters to the company behind the Trump coin, Fight Fight Fight, and WLFI, asking for records and communications between the companies and the Trump organization.
With his cryptocurrency schemes, Trump is putting a for sale sign in front of the White House. That’s why, as Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, I’m launching an inquiry into this brazen corruption whose scope & scale is staggering. pic.twitter.com/3SiaCrthN8
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) May 6, 2025
At the same time, Blumenthal says the subcommittee is asking for answers about what steps the firms have taken to address possible conflicts of interest.
Main points of interest flagged by the PSI include fees the president is making on the TRUMP token and the nearly 50% spike in value from $9.40 to $13.65 after the TRUMP coin website announced on April 23 that the top 220 holders of the token would be invited to a gala dinner at the White House.
Soon after launch on Jan. 18, the Trump coin hit its all-time high of $73.43, according to CoinGecko. However, it has since lost 85% of its value and is trading for $11.13.
More than half of TRUMP holders in profit
Roughly two million wallets have bought TRUMP, with an extra 54,000 adding the token to their stash after the dinner announcement, according to data shared with Cointelegraph from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.
Around 764,000 of these, most with small holdings, lost money on the coin, while the 58 investors in the token have made profits of over $10 million each, totaling an estimated $1.1 billion.
At the same time, Chainalysis says the memecoin creator has made $320 million so far, with an extra $1.3 million coming in since the White House dinner announcement.
Related: Dem lawmakers object to hearing, citing ‘Trump’s crypto corruption’
Meanwhile, a trucking logistics firm announced plans on April 30 to build a TRUMP coin treasury through a $20 million convertible note issuance.
Javier Selgas, CEO of Freight Technologies, said the tokens are an “excellent way to diversify our crypto treasury and also an effective way to advocate for fair, balanced, and free trade between Mexico and the US.”
The firm also acquired $5.2 million of the Fetch.ai network’s utility token FET on April 1.
Magazine: Mystery celeb memecoin scam factory, HK firm dumps Bitcoin: Asia Express
Robinhood Derivatives has sued New Jersey and Nevada regulators to stop any potential regulatory action over its sports event contracts.
WazirX has been trying to get a restructuring plan through the Singapore High Court to start returning funds to users impacted by the $234 million hack in 2024.
“It’s an interesting moment,” was how one government source described the High Court ruling that will force an Essex hotel to be emptied of asylum seekers within weeks.
That may prove to be the understatement of the summer.
For clues as to why, just take a glance at what the Home Office’s own lawyer told the court on Tuesday.
Granting the injunction “runs the risk of acting as an impetus for further violent protests”, the barrister said – pointing out that similar legal claims by other councils would “aggravate pressures on the asylum estate”.
Right on cue and just hours after the ruling came in, Broxbourne Council – over the border in Hertfordshire – posted online that it was urgently seeking legal advice with a view to taking similar court action.
The risks here are clear.
Police officers ahead of a demonstration outside The Bell Hotel. Pic: PA
Recent figures show just over 30,000 asylum seekers being housed in hotels across the country.
If they start to empty out following a string of court claims, the Home Office will struggle to find alternative options.
After all, they are only in hotels because of a lack of other types of accommodation.
There are several caveats though.
This is just an interim injunction that will be heard in full in the autumn.
So the court could swing back in favour of the hotel chain – and by extension the Home Office.
Read more:
Who says what on asylum hotels?
Protesters in Epping on 8 August. Pic: Reuters
We have been here before
Remember, this isn’t the first legal claim of this kind.
Other councils have tried to leverage the power of the courts to shut down asylum hotels, with varying degrees of success.
In 2022, Ipswich Borough Council failed to get an extension to an interim injunction to prevent migrants being sent to a Novotel in the town.
As in Epping, lawyers argued there had been a change in use under planning rules.
The hotel has been the scene of regular protests. Pic: PA
But the judge eventually decided that the legal duty the Home Office has to provide accommodation for asylum seekers was more important.
So there may not be a direct read across from this case to other councils.
Home Office officials are emphasising this injunction was won on the grounds of planning laws rather than national issues such as public order, and as such, each case will be different.
Failing Labour approach or Tory tricks?
But government sources also smell dirty tricks from Epping Council and are suggesting that the Tory-led local authority made the legal claim for political reasons.
Pointing to the presence of several prominent Tory MPs in the Essex area – as well as the threat posed by Reform in the county – the question being posed is why this legal challenge was not brought when asylum seekers first started being sent to the hotel in 2020 during the Conservatives‘ time in government.
Epping Council would no doubt reject that and say recent disorder prompted them to act.
But that won’t stop the Tories and Reform of seizing on this as evidence of a failing approach from Labour.
So there are political risks for the government, yes, but it’s the practicalities that could flow from this ruling that pose the bigger danger.
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