Democratic Senator Adam Schiff has introduced a new bill, the 60/t Act, that aims to prohibit US presidents and their families from promoting or launching cryptocurrency projects. Why did Democrats introduce the new bill, and what risks does it face for Donald Trump?
table of contents
The new law
The Trump family's thriving cryptocurrency empire
The Future of COIN Law
The new law
The full name of the bill introduced by Adam Schiff is the Official Income and Non-Disclosure Restriction Act. The new law doesn't explicitly aim to cripple Trump's cryptocurrency business; rather, it prohibits all sitting presidents, their vice presidents, and their immediate family members (siblings, spouses, and children) from using their privileged positions to engage in cryptocurrency and other financial activities. In addition to cryptocurrencies, the law regulates (prohibits) the endorsement and issuance of securities, commodities, and futures contracts.
The law prohibits senior officials and their families from endorsing cryptocurrency projects and other assets, or using their images or likenesses to promote them. The legislation also prohibits the issuance and sponsorship of assets. The anti-cryptocurrency law does not prohibit presidents and their families from purchasing, owning, or sending cryptocurrencies. Crypto assets held by senior officials are subject to disclosure, just like other financial assets.
Violators are subject to penalties and may be liable for restitution of their illicit profits to the U.S. Treasury. If the violation results in a total loss of $1 million or more to a U.S. citizen or multiple U.S. citizens, or if the assets are used for bribery, violators may be subject to criminal prosecution. It is understood that insider trading and fraud are also prohibited.
Democrats have attempted to impose similar regulations before. In the spring of 2025, they attempted to add provisions that would have barred Trump from working in the cryptocurrency space to the Genius Act, which regulates stablecoins. However, Democrats were unsuccessful in amending the bill. This appears to have been the reason for the creation of a new bill, one entirely dedicated to senior officials' connections to the industry.
The Trump family's thriving cryptocurrency empire
Given Trump and his family's close ties to numerous cryptocurrency projects, antitrust law threatens their safety. Adam Schiff explains this in a video he posted on the X platform.
Donald Trump and other senior administration officials have made a fortune from cryptocurrency schemes.
Today, I am introducing an antitrust law to put an end to this corruption in plain sight.
In the video, Schiff says that through Trump's recent financial disclosure, we learned that the US president has made vast sums of money from the sale of merchandise bearing his image or name (including a Trump Bible).
However, Schiff adds that the most lucrative source of income for Trump and his family is a "cryptocurrency scheme." One element of this scheme is Trump's official cryptocurrency, Memcoin (revenues from this project are not subject to disclosure, as Trump launched it before his inauguration).
Another item Schiff mentioned in the chart is the stablecoin $USD1
Launched by World Liberty Finance, a company closely associated with Donald Trump and his sons, Donald and Eric. Through his involvement with World Liberty Finance, Donald Trump alone earned $57 million in the first quarter of 2025.
The Anti-Cryptocurrency Act threatens these projects, extending the ban on participation in cryptocurrency businesses from 180 days before its term ends to two years after. This measure would make the official Trump and Melania memecoins illegal, in addition to the Trump family's involvement in World Liberty Finance.
In January 2025, Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, announced it would raise $250 million in cryptocurrency through the Truth.Fi platform. Eric Trump is the chief strategic officer of the new mining project, AmericanBitcoin. In May, the company announced its initial public offering. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. own 98% of the company's shares.
The Future of Anti-Cryptocurrency Law
Schiff supported the Genius Act despite removing restrictions on senior cryptocurrency executives from the bill. Overall, this demonstrates that Schiff will not hinder cryptocurrency innovation in the United States, although he remains concerned about Trump's perceived conflicts of interest.
As of press time, the Anti-Cryptocurrency Act has the support of nine Democratic senators. It's too early to judge the proposal's success. Republicans have previously shown no interest in limiting Trump's interference in the cryptocurrency sector, so the COIN Act may be defeated, just as amendments to the #GENIUS Act were previously defeated. However, time will tell whether this crucial legislation becomes the norm. $TRUMP