California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a new law banning covered public officials from issuing memecoins, while directly linking the move to concerns over President Donald Trump’s crypto venture.
The law, Assembly Bill 2409, prevents certain state and local officials from issuing memecoins and will, from January 1, 2027, stop digital-asset service providers from listing newly issued memecoins offered by or in partnership with covered federal, state or local officials. Newsom’s office described the policy as “the opposite of Trump”, referring to Trump’s Official Trump ($TRUMP) memecoin.
Source: ca.gov
The legislation was signed on September 27 as part of a wider package dealing with public ethics, consumer protection and crypto-related crime. It does not amount to a blanket ban on memecoins in California. Instead, it specifically targets memecoins linked to certain public officials.
AB 2409 applies to state and local elected and appointed officials, legislators and members of government boards, commissions and committees. It also covers certain government employees who have authority over public contracts and bidding decisions.
The law defines issuing a memecoin broadly. It can include making a token available for public purchase, donation or exchange of value, whether or not the official personally promotes it. However, the legislation does not automatically require existing politician-linked memecoins to be removed from trading platforms.
The restriction on digital-asset service providers takes effect from January 1, 2027. From that date, providers serving California residents cannot list a newly issued memecoin if it is offered by or in partnership with a covered federal, state or local public official.
The legislation passed with no recorded opposition in its final votes. The California Assembly initially approved it 77-0 in May, while the Senate passed the final version 40-0 in August. The Assembly later agreed to the Senate amendments before sending the bill to Newsom.
Newsom’s office made the political connection to Trump unusually direct. Its announcement was titled “THE OPPOSITE OF TRUMP” and argued that public officials should not profit from their government positions. The governor’s office specifically cited Trump’s Official Trump memecoin, which was launched on the Solana blockchain in January 2025, shortly before his second inauguration.
The token attracted huge attention after its launch. According to figures cited in the source material, its market value climbed into the billions before falling sharply. Data from Nansen cited by CoinDesk showed that 988,905 buyers had lost a combined $3.81 billion. Trump’s financial disclosure separately listed about $635.1 million in royalties from a Celebration Coins licensing agreement involving CIC Digital LLC.
Those figures concern different aspects of the business and should not be treated as the current value of tokens held by Trump. The White House has previously rejected allegations that Trump’s business interests create conflicts of interest.
The law does not create a new criminal offence for issuing a prohibited memecoin. Instead, it relies on civil enforcement. California’s attorney general can seek court orders to stop prohibited activity and pursue disgorgement. District attorneys, city attorneys and county counsel can also enforce restrictions involving California public officials and covered employees.
Newsom also signed Senate Bill 1208, which takes a broader approach to crypto-related crime. The measure expands California’s money-laundering framework to certain digital-asset transactions and creates procedures for seizing crypto connected to criminal activity.
Under the new framework, authorities can seek warrants covering digital assets held by exchanges, issuers, custodians or other locations. They can also ask businesses to temporarily freeze identified assets while seeking a warrant. Qualifying digital-asset businesses receiving such a request must hold the identified assets for 10 calendar days.
Together, the two laws create separate tracks for California’s crypto policy. AB 2409 focuses on the relationship between public office and memecoins, while SB 1208 gives authorities additional tools to deal with crypto linked to money laundering and other crimes. For the crypto industry, the more immediate question will be how the new rules are applied when politician-linked tokens and digital-asset platforms intersect.
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