Legislation Proposed To Ban Congress From Crypto Trading

US Representative Ro Khanna is expected to introduce a resolution today that would stop the President, his family members, and members of Congress from trading crypto or stocks and accepting foreign funds.

The proposal comes amid growing public outrage over President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. It also points to a broader frustration with politicians and their ability to trade while occupying positions of power.

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Khanna Targets Crypto Trading in Congress

California Representative Ro Khanna is set to unveil a Congressional resolution today to prevent the President and Members of Congress from trading cryptocurrencies and accepting foreign money.

Khanna first announced the initiative over the weekend. Since then, he has used social media and televised interviews to explain his reasoning behind this move.

“We have a president who is enriching himself and his family in an obscene wealth that is unprecedented in American history. People need to wake up to what’s going on– it’s corruption right before our very eyes,” Khanna told MSNBC.

The California representative has long advocated for banning stock trading by politicians and prohibiting campaign contributions from PACs and lobbyists. This new measure appears prompted by Trump’s recent decision to grant a prominent crypto figure clemency.

Trump’s Binance Pardon Fuels Political Backlash

Last week, Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) for violating US anti-money laundering laws.

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Some welcomed the news, viewing the case against CZ as an example of unfair treatment toward the crypto industry. Others, however, saw it as a political move and a calculated effort by Binance to win the President’s favor.

Khanna aligned himself with the latter view.

“You’ve got a foreign billionaire who was basically engaged in money laundering, having money go to Hamas, Iran, [and] child abusers. He was convicted and served four [months] in prison. And then he petitions for a pardon… and what he does is he says, ‘I’m going to support World Liberty’… which they’re making millions of dollars on while Donald Trump is President,” he explained in another MSNBC interview.

Despite these public remarks, Khanna’s office has not yet released the detailed text of the proposed legislation.

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What distinguishes Khanna from other critical Democrats is his generally positive outlook on cryptocurrencies.

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Growing Scrutiny Over Politics and Crypto

Stand With Crypto, a crypto advocacy group closely affiliated with Coinbase, currently lists Khanna as a politician who is “strongly supportive” of cryptocurrency.

The California representative’s A-grade sharply contrasts with some of his Democratic colleagues and outspoken critics of the President’s connections to the crypto industry. For instance, Senator Elizabeth Warren and fellow Californian Representative Maxine Waters hold F-grades.

Despite his favorable view of crypto and its underlying technology, Khanna has generally advocated for a clear separation between the industry’s influence and politics.

This sentiment has recently grown stronger among the public as Trump’s ties to the crypto industry have expanded. 

Trump’s campaign and affiliated PACs have received millions in donations from the crypto industry, while his family-backed venture, World Liberty Financial, has launched its own stablecoin. The company has also reportedly been involved in a crypto-related deal with the UAE that coincided with the country receiving more favorable US AI chip technology access.