- California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law barring state public officials from issuing memecoins, part of an 11-bill package addressing corruption, consumer protection and cryptocurrency crime.
- Newsom framed the measure as a rebuke of President Donald Trump, whose $TRUMP token generated billions in losses for holdrers.
President Donald Trump has made millions from memecoins, but politicians in California don't have that chance anymore.
On Sunday, California's Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law that bans the state's public officials from issuing memecoins, or cryptocurrencies representing a famous personality, internet joke or viral trend rather than a specific use case.
The measure, AB 2409, was signed along with 10 other bills on corruption and consumer protection. Others set rules for paying back crypto scam victims and creating a legal process to seize crypto from transnational criminal networks.
Newsom's office titled the announcement "THE OPPOSITE OF TRUMP," accusing the Trump administration of corruption and self-dealing, including through the viral $TRUMP memecoin.
"While the scam that is Donald Trump continues to hurt American families, California is fighting to make our economy work for people, not the powerful. No official should profit off their office — and we're putting stronger protections in place to ensure it doesn't happen in our state," Newsom said in the press release.
Trump’s office did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for a comment.
It's unclear whether the ban covers meme tokens already in existence, such as $TRUMP.
President launched $TRUMP three days before his early 2025 inauguration, and the frenzy was so intense that its price rose from under $1 to $75 within a day or two, pushing its market capitalization to $14 billion. And then it crashed just as quickly, generating huge losses for small holders.
Data tracked by Nansen shows 988,905 buyers lost a combined $3.81 billion. Meanwhile, Trump's financial disclosure lists $636 million in royalties from the coin. Trump Organization affiliates own about 80% of the supply.
As of this writing, the token trades at $2.03.
Newsom, whose second and final term ends in January, is widely seen as a 2028 presidential contender.
