Representative Ro Khanna aims to ban elected officials, including the President and family, from trading crypto and individual stocks.
A U.S. lawmaker is seeking to ban elected officials from financial trading. Specifically, this prohibition targets members of Congress and the President. In addition, the proposed ban would apply to stocks as well as cryptocurrencies. The move comes after allegations of conflict of interest. Thus, this initiative has a good, productive impact on the existing ethics debate.
Allegations of Corruption Fuel Call for New Trading Limits
The California Congressman, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), asked these questions. He sought to draw some attention to potential conflicts in the present day with an appearance on MSNBC. For a long while, Khanna focused on President Trump’s apparent ties to crypto, via his son’s project. As such, the project is called World Liberty Financial (WLFI). Thus, the lawmaker appears to be proposing that there is a serious conflict of interest
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Moreover, Khanna claimed that the recent pardon of Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was flawed. He publicly called the action “blatant corruption.” Khanna asserted that Zhao was an overseas billionaire involved in money-laundering in the past. He also added that Zhao “basically channeled money to terrorists.” Thus, he pointed out, the pardon was wrongly given.
It is worth mentioning that Khanna committed factual errors in his statement. Zhao was not sentenced to four years in prison but four months. In addition, Zhao pled guilty to money laundering violations. As Khanna falsely claimed, he was not “convicted.” This was as part of a major $4.3 billion settlement agreement.
Still, Khanna claimed the pardon had to do with money. He said Zhao was “basically funding Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency stablecoin.” Furthermore, he said that Zhao promised support to WLFI. He referred to this as the “cryptocurrency company of the president’s son.” Therefore, the firm was allegedly “making millions of dollars on” this connection.
Proposed Bill Extends Trading Restrictions to Congress and the Presidency
Representative Ro Khanna will soon introduce his bill. The notification was released on October 28, 2025 directly. The bill would bar elected officials from trading stocks as well as cryptos. This is an extension of bipartisan efforts to rein in Congressional stock trading already. Therefore, the scope becomes much wider with the inclusion of the crypto element.
For instance, a bill called the Restore Trust in Congress Act was proposed in September 2025. This bipartisan House bill is intended to ban stock and securities transactions between individuals. It is also a very broad strategy and includes commodities and futures. Critically, the proposed restrictions would also apply to spouses and dependents. The investments will only be permitted in diversified mutual funds and ETFs.
In addition, a companion bill was proposed, making it out of Senate committee in July 2025. This measure was intended to prohibit dealings by the members of Congress and the President. An amendment was made at that time about then-President Trump. He would not be required to divest the shares. However, all other provisions would be made effective for all subsequent administrations. Thus, the intention of the legislator for the future of leadership is clear.
The debate over CZ’s pardon and the WLFI project is now more urgent. It is a timely example of a potential source of corruption. The bill is to meet the accelerating growth of the market. It desires to keep the public confidence in government officials.
In the end, the proposed legislation guarantees ethical governance. This new development marks a strong move towards financial accountability. This is to avoid any perceived trading advantage. Thus, Khanna’s proposal is a brave move in the right direction.