California bans public officials from issuing meme coins
Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 2409, barring California public officials and employees from issuing meme coins and restricting platforms that list tokens tied to officials.
Key points
- Assembly Bill 2409 was authored by Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, a Democrat from Anaheim.
- Public officers and employees cannot issue meme coins, and platforms cannot list certain official-linked tokens issued from 1 January 2027.
- The attorney general, district attorneys, city attorneys and county counsels can seek injunctions and disgorgement.
- Newsom's press office linked the law to President Donald Trump's meme coin business, calling it corruption.
- Newsom also signed Senate Bill 1208, extending money-laundering rules to digital assets with a sunset on 1 January 2032.
California has banned public officials from issuing meme coins after Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2409, Decrypt reports. The law prohibits California public officers and employees from issuing such tokens and places new obligations on digital asset platforms serving state residents. It was authored by Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, a Democrat from Anaheim.
The bill defines a meme coin as a digital asset marketed through association with internet memes, characters, current events or trends, and whose value comes mainly from public interest, speculation or community engagement. The prohibition applies to public officers and public employees. The listing restriction covers meme coins issued on or after 1 January 2027 when offered by, or in partnership with, a federal public official or a state or local public officer.
That means the measure is not a blanket ban on meme coins in California. Instead it targets tokens connected to public officials and imposes duties on platforms that serve California residents. Enforcement can be brought by the state attorney general, district attorneys, city attorneys and county counsels, who may seek injunctions and the disgorgement of funds.
California targets political meme coins
The legislation arrives amid growing scrutiny of politicians who launch or profit from crypto tokens. Decrypt notes that President Donald Trump and his family have built a substantial business presence in digital assets. Newsom's press office linked the law directly to Trump's meme coin efforts and accused the administration of an unprecedented level of corruption. Newsom said no official should profit from their office and called Trump a scam in a follow-up post.
Federal lawmakers are debating similar restrictions. In July, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, renewed calls to bar politicians and their spouses from issuing or promoting digital assets, including meme coins. Her proposal followed Trump's disclosure of more than $1.2 billion in crypto-related earnings for the previous year, including over $635 million attributed to his Solana-based TRUMP meme coin.
The issue also featured in negotiations over the federal Clarity Act. A September version included provisions letting state attorneys general enforce restrictions on covered officials issuing or sponsoring digital assets, and requiring covered officials to divest certain crypto interests or place them in qualified blind trusts. The Senate then failed to advance the bill in a key procedural vote, leaving the federal ethics provisions unresolved.
Trump and meme coins
Newsom has taken other action on official conflicts of interest. In March he signed an executive order barring California public officials and appointees from using inside information to profit on prediction markets, or helping others do so. He also signed Senate Bill 1208, authored by Senator Tim Grayson, a Democrat from Concord, which extends state money-laundering laws to digital asset transactions and sets procedures for seizing and forfeiting crypto tied to specified crimes, with the digital-asset provisions sunsetting on 1 January 2032.