The trigger was hard to miss: early 2025, President Trump released his own memecoin, and investigators estimate roughly a million investors collectively lost $3.8 billion on it.
Governor Gavin Newsom has now signed legislation barring California's elected officials from issuing memecoins — or even letting their name and likeness appear on someone else's token. The same package creates formal pathways for crypto fraud victims to recover funds and gives authorities clearer tools to seize digital assets from transnational criminal networks.
"No official should profit off their office — and we're putting stronger protections in place to ensure it doesn't happen in our state."
Sound logic. Shame it took a $3.8 billion lesson to write it down.
Engadget