There's a Push to Ban Elected Officials From Launching Meme Coins. Is Meme Coin Mania Finally Over?
Key Points
One senator is trying to include a meme coin ban for elected officials in an upcoming bill.
That ban might have saved investors from buying a few poorly performing coins recently.
But even if it's passed, it won't extinguish meme coins as a phenomenon.
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Nearly 1 million buyers of the Official Trump (CRYPTO: TRUMP) meme coin are reportedly underwater on their investment, down by around $3.8 billion in total, per blockchain analytics firm Nansen. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump's annual financial disclosure listed $636 million in income from the same coin in 2025. The token sent a slice of every trade back to the issuer, paying out whether the price rose or crashed.
Now, some in the Senate are trying to close that door by banning elected officials from launching meme coins. If it passes, would that mean meme coins are a thing of the past?
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What the ban aims to do
On July 3, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, renewed her push to bar members of Congress, the president, and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets, like the Trump meme coin, as well as similar assets like the Melania Meme coin. Gillibrand tied those requirements to the Clarity Act, which is also known as the crypto market structure bill.
Gillibrand's proposal is an ethics provision she is trying to negotiate into the Clarity Act, and it's framed as a safeguard. She has said officials could "get rich off of these industries because of their insider status." The provision is also meant to guard against enthusiastic fans losing their shirts by buying a worthless politician-branded coin.
The mania isn't going anywhere
Even if this suggestion becomes U.S. law, that doesn't mean meme coins will go away. The meme coin segment is worth $27.1 billion today, down from its December 2024 peak of roughly $150 billion. Dogecoin, the king of the meme coins, is 90% below its 2021 high, and Shiba Inu, its younger sibling, is down 95%. And investors shouldn't buy these coins, regardless of whether there's new legislation that prevents politicians from launching them.
At the same time, there's no reason to expect meme coins will stop being created, and every reason to expect that, once in a while, some of them will temporarily be worth billions.
The pool of investors willing to gamble is functionally unlimited. So is the pool of crypto developers willing to provide what those investors are looking for. And so, when crypto bear markets become bull markets, global liquidity loosens, and risk appetite is high, the meme coin blitzes will start up again. It's inevitable.
But losing your money on them is not inevitable. Never buy a politician-linked meme coin, or any other meme coin. And treat Dogecoin and its cousins as gambling chips; their unlimited supply and total lack of utility or value have never improved, and they probably never will.
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Alex Carchidi has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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