A U.S. lawmaker is pushing to ban President Donald Trump, his family, and members of Congress from trading cryptocurrencies or stocks.
Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California’s 17th Congressional District and vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, voiced his concerns during an appearance on MSNBC. Khanna cited what he described as Trump’s conflict of interest in the crypto space through his son’s project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), and called the recent pardon of Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao an act of “blatant corruption.”
“You’ve got a foreign billionaire who was basically engaged in money laundering,” Khanna said of CZ. “Then he petitions for a pardon from Donald Trump after funneling money to terrorists.”
CZ, however, recently pushed back against similar claims made by Senator Elizabeth Warren, saying she “can’t get her facts right.”
Zhao had pleaded guilty to a single felony count of violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act for failing to maintain an adequate Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program at Binance.
Khanna alleged that Zhao’s lenient treatment was tied to Binance’s financial ties to WLFI, echoing recent concerns raised by Representative Maxine Waters.
“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 has repeatedly faced scrutiny over his alleged ties to World Liberty Financial (WLFI), though his son Eric Trump has consistently denied any involvement by the former president. In a September interview, Eric emphasized that his father “is running a nation. He’s not involved in our businesses in any way, shape, or form.”
Khanna did not provide specific details about his proposed legislation but made his stance clear, calling for a ban on “any elected official from holding cryptocurrency or accepting foreign money.”
According to government records, Khanna’s bill has not yet been formally introduced.
Debate over banning officials from trading
The question of whether government officials should be allowed to invest in markets such as stocks — and now crypto — has long been contentious. In the U.S., the debate continues through the bipartisan congressional stock trading bill, which is expected to come up for a vote soon.
However, the issue remains complex. While Khanna has criticized Trump’s crypto connections, he also has significant personal investments in the stock market, raising questions about potential hypocrisy.
Data from Quiver Quant shows that Khanna recorded $80.3 million in stock trades in 2025 alone. Since taking office in 2017, he has executed over 35,000 trades worth more than $580 million in total volume, primarily across the financial, information technology, and healthcare sectors.
