Ro Khanna is preparing to introduce a bill that would prohibit the President of the United States from trading digital assets.
Democratic Representative Ro Khanna announced his intention to present a bill that would ban President Donald Trump, his family, and all members of Congress from owning, trading, or creating digital assets.
The legislative initiative comes in the wake of the controversy sparked by the presidential pardon granted to Changpeng Zhao (CZ), former CEO and founder of Binance, who served four months in prison after being convicted of violating U.S. anti-money laundering regulations.
In an interview with MSNBC, Congressman Khanna described the pardon granted to CZ as an act of “blatant corruption,” accusing the Trump administration of serious ethical violations related to the presidential family’s interests in the cryptocurrency sector.
Khanna’s legislative proposal extends existing restrictions on stock trading for public officials to the world of digital assets and tokenized projects. This means that the spouses and direct relatives of elected leaders would not be allowed to hold or launch cryptocurrency-related ventures during their terms in office.
“This is blatant corruption. You don’t need to know a lot about cryptocurrency to understand what went on here. A convicted billionaire who funneled money to terrorists and child abusers gets pardoned after financially backing the president’s son’s crypto company,” Khanna said.
The controversy erupted on October 24, when Trump granted a full pardon to Zhao after months of political pressure and lobbying. According to reports, Binance had invested significant resources to build relationships with the President’s inner circle, even providing technical support to World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s crypto venture.
Leaked information suggests that Binance hired lobbyist Ches McDowell to influence the President’s perception of Zhao’s conviction, arguing that the legal case initiated under the Biden administration was politically motivated.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt defended the presidential decision, stating that “the Biden administration’s war on crypto is over.” Zhao expressed his gratitude to the President, pledging to help make America the global capital of cryptocurrencies and Web3.
The presidential decision has reignited scrutiny of Trump’s ties to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. His sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, lead World Liberty Financial, which launched a stablecoin initiative. WLFI received initial liquidity and infrastructure support from Binance.
In March, former CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad had already raised the alarm, arguing that the President’s growing ambitions in crypto projects represented an unprecedented conflict of interest. According to Massad, initiatives such as WLFI and Trump’s meme coin cross the line between public office and private profit, potentially defrauding investors rather than benefiting them.
Khanna argued that the relationship between Trump and CZ, culminating in the presidential pardon, represents a textbook example of conflict of interest. According to the congressman, foreign influence in the crypto market poses a direct threat to U.S. national security.
