Trump Approves Stricter Ethics Requirements for Cryptocurrency Bill

A bipartisan cryptocurrency bill in the US Senate has been amended to include stricter ethics requirements after President Donald Trump agreed to support the changes. The proposed legislation aims to regulate digital assets and prevent conflicts of interest among federal officials.

The initial version of the bill contained a provision that would have prohibited all federally elected representatives, their spouses, and federal judges from creating or issuing digital assets. However, a coalition of Democrats and some Republicans argued that this was insufficient to address potential conflicts of interest surrounding Trump's cryptocurrency holdings.

Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) led the effort to strengthen the bill, which now includes a provision requiring officials to divest from or place into a blind trust any 'significant' financial stake in entities that launch digital currencies. Trump accepted about 80% of the compromise put forward by Tillis and Gallego.

The revised text also permits state attorneys general to pursue legal action against crypto exchanges if they trade digital tokens banned by the primary text. This concession addresses concerns raised by some Republicans who worried that Democratic state attorneys general might wield the authority as a political tool against the president and other Republican figures, while Republican state attorneys general could turn the same mechanisms against elected Democrats.