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Politics

California enacts law prohibiting public officials from issuing memecoins

Legislation also bars companies from listing tokens depicting officials, citing reports of prior investor losses.

The short version

  • California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2409 into law, barring state public officials from issuing memecoins to restrict profiting from their offices.[Engadget · Slashdot]
  • The statute also prohibits businesses from creating or listing memecoins featuring the likeness or image of any public official.[Slashdot]
  • Newsom's office cited reports alleging one million investors lost $3.8 billion on a 2025 memecoin issued by Donald Trump.[Slashdot]

Key facts

  • Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2409, barring California public officials from issuing memecoins.[Engadget · Slashdot]
  • The measure prohibits companies from listing or creating memecoins that use the image or likeness of a public official.[Engadget · Slashdot]
  • The governor's office pointed to reports that roughly one million investors lost an alleged $3.8 billion on a 2025 memecoin issued by President Donald Trump.[Engadget · Slashdot]

What remains uncertain

  • The specific scope and data behind reports alleging $3.8 billion in losses across one million investors in the 2025 Trump token remain unverified claims cited by the governor's office.[Engadget · Slashdot]

Sources

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.