Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) announced plans to introduce legislation banning elected officials from owning or creating cryptocurrencies, citing corruption concerns linked to President Donald Trump's pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
Khanna described the pardon as "blatant corruption" and alleged that Zhao was financing Trump's son's cryptocurrency firm, World Liberty Finance, while receiving the pardon. He claimed Zhao pledged support to the firm, which he referred to as the "president's son's cryptocurrency firm," and that they were "making millions of dollars" during Trump's presidency.
In an MSNBC interview, Khanna incorrectly stated that Zhao "served four years in prison" and was "convicted," when in reality, Zhao pleaded guilty to money laundering violations as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and was sentenced to four months. Khanna's proposal follows his earlier 2023 Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, a bipartisan ethics bill that stalled in committee but aimed to prevent lawmakers from trading individual stocks.
Khanna urged bipartisan action to investigate financial entanglements between the Trump family and Zhao, framing the issue as a corruption matter rather than a tech issue. However, Khanna himself has a history of stock trading, with over $580 million in total volume since 2017, raising questions about potential hypocrisy. The new legislation has not yet been officially introduced, and Khanna's office did not respond to requests for comment or draft copies.
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