The bill closest to adoption is in California: AB 2409 (Digital Assets: Meme Coins) was unanimously approved by the State Assembly in May 2026 and subsequently passed through Senate committees. On August 4, the bill was ordered to a third reading in the Senate.
The bill would prohibit public officials and public employees from issuing so-called meme coins*. In addition, digital asset service providers would be prohibited from offering California residents certain meme coins associated with federal, state, or local public officials, including those that use an official’s likeness or are issued by or in partnership with an official. The new restrictions could be enforced by the state Attorney General, district attorneys, and city attorneys.
The materials accompanying the bill explicitly link the proposed restrictions to the need to adapt anti-corruption standards to new digital realities. According to the bill’s proponents, allowing public officials to profit from issuing meme coins creates risks of conflicts of interest and an appearance of corruption.
In Pennsylvania, on June 29, 2026, the House of Representatives voted 131-71 to approve HB 2037, which would amend the state’s legislation governing public official ethics and financial disclosure. The bill is currently before the Senate State Government Committee.
Unlike the California initiative, the Pennsylvania bill covers not only meme coins but a broader range of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and stablecoins. While in office, a public official or an immediate family member would be prohibited from issuing, creating, sponsoring, endorsing, or promoting a digital asset in which they have a financial interest or from which they derive a financial benefit.
Individuals who already have such an interest would be required to divest themselves of the relevant asset within 90 days.
The bill would also require the disclosure of financial interests in digital assets valued at more than $1,000 and establish a civil penalty of up to $50,000 for violating the new prohibition.
A different model has been proposed in New York. S8214 (the Senate version) and A8718 (the Assembly version), titled the Public Official Virtual Currency Regulation Act, would restrict certain virtual currency activities in the state where specified public officials or members of their families have a substantial financial interest. The Senate version is currently before the Senate Committee on Ethics and Internal Governance.
The bill would apply to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Comptroller, and Attorney General of New York, as well as the President of the United States; the restrictions would also extend to the family members of all such officials.
A financial interest would include, among other things, the right to receive a share of proceeds from the sale of virtual currency, compensation for promoting it, or ownership of at least 5% of the virtual currency concerned. Violations of the proposed restrictions would be subject to civil penalties, which in cases of knowing violations could reach $50,000 for each day the violation continues.
*A meme coin is a type of crypto asset typically created around an internet meme, joke, popular image, or well-known person, whose value is driven primarily by popularity and speculative demand.