A bill is being sought to be introduced by US Representative Ro Khanna to prohibit all elected officials from trading stocks and crypto, citing conflicts of interest.
A prohibition on trading crypto or stocks is being sought by a US lawmaker for US President Donald Trump, his immediate relatives, and members of Congress.
Concerns regarding Trump’s apparent conflict of interest with crypto, specifically through his son’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), were raised by US Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California’s 17th Congressional District and vice-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, during an appearance on MSNBC. He alleged that the recent pardoning of Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was “blatant corruption.”
“You’ve got a foreign billionaire who was basically engaged in money-laundering,” Khanna said of CZ, adding, “then he petitions for a pardon from Donald Trump after basically funneling money to terrorists.”
Nevertheless, similar accusations from Senator Elizabeth Warren were recently responded to by CZ, who asserted that she “can’t get her facts right.”
A solitary felony count of infringing upon the US Bank Secrecy Act was pled to by CZ following his failure to uphold an effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance scheme at Binance.
It was alleged by Khanna that the Binance co-founder was being excused from stricter penalty due to Binance’s financial backing of WLFI — recent sentiments from US Representative Maxine Waters were being echoed.
“And what he does is he says ‘I’m going to support World Liberty,’ which is the president’s son’s cryptocurrency firm, which they’re making millions of dollars on while Donald Trump is president. And Donald Trump gives him a pardon while he is basically financing Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency stablecoin.”
Trump’s Crypto Links Draw Scrutiny as Lawmaker Calls for Trading Ban
Criticism has been faced by Trump due to his connections to WLFI on numerous occasions; nevertheless, his son Eric Trump has repeatedly denied that his father possesses any involvement with the venture. In an interview in September, it was emphasized by Eric that his father “is running a nation. He’s not involved in our businesses in any way, shape or form.”
Specific particulars of his legislative proposition were not delved into by Khanna, but his words were not minced, concluding with a demand for a prohibition on “any elected official from having cryptocurrency and accepting foreign money.”
Khanna’s most recent bill has not yet been formally introduced, according to official government records.
Push to Prohibit Government Officials from Trading
The question of whether government officials should be permitted to engage in capital ventures in sectors such as the stock market has been vigorously disputed for a considerable duration.
The contention is presently raging in the US through the bipartisan congressional stock trading bill, which is soon expected to be voted upon.
To offer background on the level of confusion, while Khanna has criticized Trump’s links to crypto, some personal vested interests in the stock market are also possessed by him, underscoring certain possible contradiction.
A stock trade volume of mathbf 80.3 million was accumulated by Khanna himself in 2025, according to statistics from Quiver Quant.
Over made over 35,000 trades have been executed by Khanna since he became a California representative in 2017, which amount to a total volume exceeding more than $580 million, with his primary three traded sectors being financials, information technology, and healthcare.
