- Democrat Sam Liccardo will introduce a bill to ban top officials from capitalising on personal memecoins.
- MEME Act stands for Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement Act.
California Democrat Sam Liccardo said a group from his party will introduce a bill to ban top officials — and their family members — from capitalising on personal memecoins.
The Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement Act, or the MEME Act, would prohibit the president, vice president, members of Congress, senior executive branch officials and their spouses and dependent children from issuing, sponsoring or endorsing a security, future, commodity or digital asset.
“We’re going to make corruption criminal again,” said Liccardo in an X video on Thursday.
He accused Trump of executing a rug pull — referring to crypto slang for a scheme that lures investors into buying a token which insiders then quickly sell.
He said he has more than a dozen cosigners for the bill.
While Trump and family haven’t pulled out their asset from his or First Lady Melania Trump’s memecoins yet, some in the crypto community have decried it as a cash grab.
Liccardo’s words come at a dicey time for memecoins, the former darling of the crypto industry.
This week, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said the current crypto wipeout will trigger the end of the memecoin boom, especially when combined with the chaos around Argentine president Javier Milei’s Libra scandal.
For now, Republicans have remained silent regarding Trump’s broad crypto activities.
His ties include memecoins, a DeFi app, NFTs, and a newly launched investment business called Truth.Fi.
The Trump crypto empire topped $16 billion at one point.
The MEME Act may force Trump’s party to take a side.
Trump’s representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Trump’s memecoin
Liccardo didn’t hold back against the president for his involvement in launching the Trump memecoin.
On January 17, just a few days before he took office, the then-inbound president promoted a memecoin dubbed Trump.
The token shot up to $70 with a $24 billion market value, putting it in the top 20 most valuable cryptocurrencies.
Its value has since dropped to $2.5 billion. The token currently trades for about $12, according to CoinGecko.
Trump was quickly followed by the First Lady’s memecoin. In similar fashion, Melania soared to $1.6 billion, but has since plummeted more than 90% to $130 million, according to CoinGecko.
Preacher Reverend Lorenzo Sewell, who delivered a passionate benediction at Trump’s inauguration, launched his own memecoin.
800,000 losers
The MEME Act would not only ban top officials from promoting memecoins, but would also give retail investors the ability to sue malicious actors that commit acts of financial fraud.
“Almost every one of the 800,000 people that bought the memecoin lost a lot of money,” said Liccardo. “We’re going to ensure there are criminal and civil penalties so people can sue.”
DL News didn’t independently verify that figure, but Trump has lost over 82% — or about $12 billion — of its market value since the launch.
ABC News first reported on the MEME act.
Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.