Maxine Waters introduces bill to address concerns about President Trump's involvement in digital assets

Ahead of President Donald Trump's ritzy gala to host the top holders of his memecoin, lead Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters introduced a new bill to

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday introduced a bill to address concerns about President Donald Trump's involvement in digital assets, calling for an end to "crypto corruption."

Top officials and their families should be banned from holding "a proportion of a digital asset that would allow them to unilaterally make changes to the digital asset," among other requirements, according to the legislation.

The "Stop Trading, Retention, and Unfair Market Payoffs in Crypto Act of 2025" aims to prevent officials from engaging in practices such as trading digital assets while in office or holding onto material non-public information.

The bill, which was co-sponsored by 14 other Democratic lawmakers, follows reports about Trump's family members getting involved in the digital asset industry.

"Trump's crypto con is not just a scam to target investors," said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. "It's also a dangerous backdoor for selling influence over American policies to the highest foreign bidder. For all we know, Russia, China, or even North Korea could be buying Trump's crypto to secure favors from the White House."

Lawmakers are working on legislation to regulate the digital asset industry, with one bill specifically focused on stablecoins and another taking a whole-of-market approach.

The gala at Trump's private golf club outside of Washington is for the top holders of the memecoin $TRUMP, with holders encouraged to "hold as much $TRUMP as you can," for a certain period of time.

The price for going is between $55,000 and $37.7 million, according to a report by NBC News.

Many of the attendees are anonymous, but crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun said he would be going to the gala, in a post on X.

"Honored to support @POTUS and grateful for the invitation from @GetTrumpMemes to attend President Trump's Gala Dinner as his TOP fan!" Sun posted.

Reps. Nydia Velázquez, Brad Sherman, Ritchie Torres, Al Green, Stephen Lynch, and Rashida Tlaib, among others, also supported the bill on Thursday.

"President Trump's second presidency has brought corruption in this country to new heights," said Rep. Gree. "Nothing illustrates this more than President Trump's meme coin. This bill is absolutely vital to ensure that future public servants and their families do not repeat President Trump's ignominious example."