Gillibrand pushes to add a ban on presidential crypto profits to market structure bill

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said on Aug. 23 that Congress should bar the president, the president’s spouse, and senior officials from issuing, promoting, or profiting from cryptocurrencies while in office. She said the restriction should be written into digital asset market structure legislation as an enforceable ethics rule, bringing a political ethics fight directly into the Senate’s crypto policy debate. The issue gained traction after a poll conducted from Aug. 14 to Aug. 17 among 1,166 U.S. adults found that 63% of respondents viewed Trump and his family’s crypto-related profit activity as improper, while 32% said it was appropriate. Trump, in his annual disclosure, reported more than $1.4 billion in cryptocurrency-related income for 2025. The dispute has now spilled into the Senate’s Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act. The bill is scheduled for its first procedural vote in the Senate on Sept. 15, and a motion to advance will require 60 votes. Gillibrand said she would not vote to allow a president to profit from public office with taxpayer support.