California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Sunday that bans state public officials from launching memecoins.
In addition to the ban on state officials, California Assembly Bill 2409 also prohibits crypto service providers from offering California residents the sale of any memecoin launched in association with federal, state or local public officials.
That second stipulation applies to memecoins issued on or after January 1, 2027.
Newsom, considered a prominent potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, targeted President Donald Trump in a press release announcing the bill’s signature.
“While the scam that is Donald Trump continues to hurt American families, California is fighting to make our economy work for people, not the powerful. No official should profit off their office — and we’re putting stronger protections in place to ensure it doesn’t happen in our state.”
Trump controversially launched the “Official Trump” memecoin days before he took office in 2025. Financial disclosures released earlier this year indicate the president earned $635 million in royalties from the crypto asset, which is down more than 97% from the all-time highs it set shortly after launching.
Nearly 1 million investors had lost $3.81 billion on the Trump memecoin by the end of June, per data the crypto analytics firm Nansen shared with The New York Times.
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