Adam Schiff has become the latest Democrat to introduce a bill to prohibit the president from profiting from cryptocurrencies.

On Monday (23), U.S. Senator Adam Schiff became the latest Democrat to introduce a bill to prohibit President Donald Trump and his family from profiting from cryptocurrencies while in office — but just last week, Schiff helped pass legislation that would allow exactly that for the Trumps.

The COIN Act (Curbing Officials’ Income and Nondisclosure Act), introduced by Schiff in the Senate, would explicitly prohibit the president, vice president, and their immediate family members from issuing, sponsoring, or endorsing any cryptocurrency, memecoin, NFT, or stablecoin while in office. It would also require these individuals to report the sale of any digital asset valued at over $1,000.

The proposal includes penalties of civil fines equivalent to the profit obtained and up to five years in prison for anyone covered by the measure — including the president — who violates these rules.

“Donald Trump’s involvement with cryptocurrencies has raised serious ethical, legal, and constitutional concerns about using the office of the president to enrich himself and his family,” Schiff said in a statement on Monday. “We need much greater oversight of the president’s financial dealings and to prevent him and any other politician from profiting from these schemes.”

However, days ago, Schiff joined 17 other Senate Democrats to vote in favor of the approval of the GENIUS Act, a bill that establishes a regulatory framework for the issuance and trading of stablecoins in the United States.

Although the law prohibits members of Congress and some executive officials from issuing their own stablecoins, it specifically exempts the president and vice president from these conflict of interest requirements.

At one point, Democrats threatened to abandon the bill — which needed bipartisan support — due to Republicans’ refusal to include language addressing Trump’s various crypto ventures. In the end, Democrats backed down and overwhelmingly approved the GENIUS Act.

Impact of crypto on the Trump empire

Stablecoins have become a key component of Trump’s growing crypto empire. Earlier this year, World Liberty Financial launched its own stablecoin, the USD1. In May, the Trump family announced a deal with an investment firm from the United Arab Emirates to transfer a $2 billion investment to Binance using USD1 as a settlement layer.

In a video posted on Monday, Schiff directly pointed to Trump’s stablecoin project as a central part of the “profitable network of corruption in the White House.”

A representative for Schiff did not respond when questioned by Decrypt about why the senator voted in favor of the GENIUS Act, even without language preventing the president from engaging with stablecoins.

On social media, many users reacted with disdain or disbelief to Schiff's announcement, given this contradiction.

“It’s unbelievable how cynical this is,” wrote Nitish Pahwa, a journalist from Slate, on Bluesky. “The guy just voted for a bill driven by the crypto lobby, which included no protections against Trump’s corruption. Now he pretends to deal with the issue with a bill that will never be passed?”

Other commentators on Bluesky attacked Schiff in responses to his post, with insults like “retire, idiot” and calling him a “collaborator.”

Nine Senate Democrats supported Schiff as co-authors of the COIN Act on Monday. Of these, seven had voted for the approval of the GENIUS Act the previous week.

Since Trump returned to the presidency, various Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced bills that would require the president to divest from his various crypto ventures while in office.

Among these bills are the MEME Act, proposed by Sam Liccardo in the House and by Chris Murphy in the Senate, and the Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act, introduced by Congresswoman Maxine Waters. None of them are expected to be approved while Republicans control Congress.

There is also an ongoing investigation into Trump’s crypto dealings by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

While the issue of presidential conflict of interest has not been an obstacle for Democrats in passing stablecoin legislation, it remains unclear whether this omission could affect the approval of future bills regarding market structure. These bills would address the regulation of much of the digital asset sector and, therefore, would impact Trump's other crypto businesses beyond stablecoins.