There will be no deal without an ethics provision in sweeping cryptocurrency market structure legislation, warned Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, one of the bill’s most prominent advocates.
Many Senate Democrats have raised concerns over President Donald Trump and his family’s crypto connections. Both Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, launched memecoins ahead of the inauguration, and his family has led the DeFi and stablecoin project World Liberty Financial.
Bloomberg has estimated that Trump has raked in at least $1.4 billion from his crypto ventures. Trump’s crypto interests have also faced scrutiny over potential national security and foreign influence risks following an investment tied to the United Arab Emirates.
“It is essential — and I want everyone in this room to take this to heart — there will be no one voting for this bill if we don’t have an ethics provision,” Gillibrand said on Wednesday at the Consensus Miami conference. “The truth is that we cannot allow members of Congress, senior administration officials, presidents, or vice presidents to get rich off these industries because of their insider status.”
