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Ro Khanna Pushes Bill to Ban Politicians from Owning Crypto After Binance Pardon Scandal

Tue Oct 28 2025

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna calls crypto-linked political ties “blatant corruption,” announcing legislation to prohibit lawmakers from trading or holding digital assets.

Ro Khanna Calls Crypto Politics “Blatant Corruption” — Drafts Bill to Ban Officials from Holding Digital Assets

The California Democrat is taking aim at what he calls the “dark money of the digital age,” linking Trump’s Binance pardon to a new wave of political-financial entanglement.

⚡ Quick Hits

🏛️ Ro Khanna to introduce bill banning politicians from owning or trading crypto
💥 Calls Trump’s pardon of Binance founder CZ “outrageous corruption”
💰 Alleges crypto financing links between World Liberty Finance and the Trump family
📜 Bill modeled after Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act — but for crypto
🧩 Joins Democratic push to separate politics from digital finance

💣 Crypto and Corruption Collide in Washington

U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna has thrown a grenade into Washington’s crypto debate, announcing plans to ban public officials from holding or trading digital assets.

In an MSNBC interview, Khanna blasted President Donald Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) as “outrageous corruption,” claiming it exposed the “blurring of political power and digital money.”

“You don’t need to know much about crypto to understand what happened,” Khanna said. “A foreign billionaire involved in money laundering gets pardoned — that’s corruption in plain sight.”

Khanna’s accusation adds fuel to a volatile narrative: crypto as the new currency of influence in American politics.

🕳️ The Trump-CZ Fallout

Khanna went further, alleging that Zhao had “financed Trump’s stablecoin project” through World Liberty Finance, a company he claimed is “run by the president’s son.”

Fact checkers were quick to point out errors — Zhao served four months, not four years, and pleaded guilty rather than being convicted. Still, the Congressman’s broader argument resonated with voters already uneasy about political corruption.

“This isn’t a technical issue,” Khanna said. “It’s a corruption issue.”

The controversy surrounding World Liberty Finance has also reignited scrutiny of political fundraising through crypto channels, where transparency remains murky and disclosure rules lag behind.

🧩 The “Ban Crypto Trading by Officials” Act

Khanna’s new proposal builds on his 2023 Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, which sought to prevent members of Congress from profiting from insider information via stock trades.

This time, the target is crypto.

Under the bill:

🪙 Politicians must divest digital assets or place them in blind trusts
📈 Investment limited to index funds and government bonds
🕊️ Aim: restore public trust and reduce financial conflicts

Khanna’s office confirmed that the draft bill is already in progress and expected to attract bipartisan support, citing growing discomfort in both parties over lawmakers’ exposure to volatile and opaque crypto markets.

🧱 The Broader Democratic Crackdown

Khanna isn’t alone. His bill joins a trio of Democratic efforts tightening the ethics net around crypto-linked politics.

Rep. Sam Liccardo’s MEME Act — targets conflicts of interest involving digital assets.
Sen. Adam Schiff’s COIN Act — bans presidents and their families from creating or promoting cryptocurrencies, including meme coins, NFTs, and stablecoins.

Together, these measures aim to separate governance from financial speculation — especially in an election cycle where crypto has become both a campaign tool and a moral flashpoint.

⚖️ Washington’s New Line: Transparency vs. Opportunism

Khanna’s crusade captures the mood of 2025: crypto isn’t just a technology debate anymore — it’s a political one.

What began as a conversation about decentralization and innovation has turned into a fight over influence, ethics, and public trust.

If passed, Khanna’s bill would mark a historic boundary between policymakers and the markets they regulate — a firewall between regulation and enrichment.