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Fortune
Fortune
Ben Weiss

Democrat proposes MEME Act to stop Trump and other top politicians from issuing crypto coins

Rep. Sam Liccardo speaks during a news conference. (Credit: Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images)

Democrats were aghast when President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump launched their own memecoins in January days before Trump took office. “Anyone, including the leaders of hostile nations, can covertly buy these coins, raising the specter of uninhibited and untraceable foreign influence,” wrote Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in a January TRUMP and MELANIA. Trump’s token surged to a market capitalization of more than $14 billion before plummeting to now about $2.6 billion, according to CoinGecko. Melania’s memecoin similarly rocketed to a high of almost $2 billion before plummeting to now around $123 million in market capitalization.

Democrats and even the crypto industry criticized the Trump family’s memecoin foray. "Call me old-fashioned but I think presidents should focus on running the country and not launching scam tokens,” wrote Nic Carter, a prominent crypto investor and supporter of Trump, on X.

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