US lawmakers aim to block President Trump and his family from trading in cryptocurrencies and stocks

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US lawmakers are calling for a ban on US President Donald Trump, his family, and members of Congress from trading in cryptocurrencies and stocks.

Rep. Ro Khanna, the Democratic representative for California’s 17th Congressional District and vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, appeared on MSNBC to express concerns about Trump’s apparent conflict of interest with cryptocurrencies through his son’s crypto project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), and claimed that the recent pardon of Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Chao was “blatant corruption.”

“You have a foreign billionaire who was basically involved in money laundering,” Khanna said of CZ, adding, “He then basically funneled money to terrorists and then petitioned Donald Trump for a pardon.”

However, CZ recently hit back at a similar accusation from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, claiming she “can’t get the facts right.”

CZ pled guilty to a single felony count of violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act after failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program at Binance.

Khanna claimed that the Binance co-founder was being let loose for funding WLFI, echoing recent sentiments from U.S. Representative Maxine Waters.

“And what he’s doing is saying, ‘I’m going to support World Liberty,’ which is the president’s son’s cryptocurrency company, and they’ve made millions of dollars during Donald Trump’s presidency. And Donald Trump is basically giving him a pardon while funding Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency stablecoin.”

Trump has faced repeated criticism over his relationship with WLFI. However, his son Eric Trump has consistently denied that his father was involved in the project. In an interview in September, Eric emphasized that his father “is running the country. He is not involved in our business in any way shape or form.”

Congressman Khanna talks about his reasons for introducing the new law. sauce: Ro Khanna

Khanna didn’t go into specific details of his legislative proposal, but he didn’t mince words, closing by calling for a ban on “elected officials holding virtual currencies and receiving foreign funds.”

Mr. Khanna’s latest bill has not yet been formally introduced, according to government records.

Prohibit transactions with government officials

The question of whether government officials should be allowed to invest in areas such as the stock market has been hotly debated for some time.

This debate is currently intensifying in the United States through a bipartisan Congressional Stock Trading Bill, which is expected to be voted on soon.

To illustrate how murky the situation is, Khanna criticizes President Trump’s ties to cryptocurrencies while highlighting his own vested interests in the stock market and potential hypocrisy.

Khanna himself recorded $80.3 million worth of stock trading volume in 2025, according to data from Quiver Quant.

Since becoming California state representative in 2017, Mr. Khanna has completed more than 35,000 transactions totaling more than $580 million, with the top three sectors being financials, information technology, and health care.