U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) wants to ban presidents and members of Congress from selling meme coins.
He and U.S. Representative Sam Liccardo (D-CA-16) on the House side have introduced the Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement (MEME) Act.
A meme coin is a form of cryptocurrency inspired by internet phenomena, often called memes. Meme coins have been around for about a decade, and usually have a very low monetary value.
President Donald Trump (R) started selling one just before he took office. Since then, its sellers have made more than $100,000 off the product. CIC Digital, a Trump Organization affiliate, is one of the companies that receives trading revenue from the coin.
The coin’s top 220 buyers get to attend a dinner with the president later this month.
Murphy called it “the most unethical thing a U.S. president has ever done.”
“It's essentially a way for any corporate CEO, any Saudi prince, any foreign oligarch who has business before the Trump administration, to send Trump money privately, secretly, and then whisper to the Trump administration about how much money they've sent and the favor that they need,” Murphy said.
During an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press last weekend, Trump said he “hadn’t even looked” at how much he made off the coin.
At first, he denied that he was profiting off the venture. Then, facing pushback from interviewer Kristen Welker, Trump said he was.
“If I have stock in something and I’m doing a good job and the stock market goes up, I guess I'm profiting,” Trump said, before changing the topic to insider stock trading in Congress.
