Sam Liccardo, a Silicon Valley congressman, proposed the MEME Act to stop TRUMP and other political tokens. The bill has practically no chance of passing, but it might be an important milestone.
Although the crypto industry is theoretically enjoying real political power, there are some cracks in the Republican coalition. If these cracks widen, a vital legislation like this could have a chance at success.
Can the MEME Act Stop TRUMP?
When President Trump launched his own meme coin, it crossed worrying new boundaries for the crypto space. Nearly half of its investors were complete novices to the crypto space, and scammers exploited the hype to steal $857 million in the first few days.
Now, freshman Congressman Sam Liccardo is trying to stop the trend by sponsoring his first piece of legislation:
“That wasn’t my plan when I ran for office, I can assure you. [Trump’s] behavior is so self-evidently unethical that it raises the question why isn’t there a clear enough prohibition [on political meme coins]. You need to have some enforcement mechanism and a private right of action helps to keep everybody honest,” Liccardo claimed in an interview.
Liccardo is the Representative for Silicon Valley, the US’ biggest tech hub, and he’s been in office since January. So far, it is unclear how many of the Valley’s tech firms support his first big Congressional effort.
Today, he proposed the Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement (MEME) Act, which targets TRUMP and other political meme coins.
This act would block the President, members of Congress, other senior officials, and their family members from launching or endorsing any tokens under threat of civil and criminal penalties. It would also impose similar restrictions on commodities and securities.
If approved, the MEME Act would also demand that Trump disgorge all profits from his token launch.
The rise of TRUMP and other political meme coins is causing prominent figures like Vitalik Buterin to worry about the industry’s direction. Blatant scams are impacting crypto’s credibility, and multiple foreign governments have launched or considered launching their own meme coins and rug pulls.
Several crypto community members believe these tokens are a stupendous mechanism for enabling political corruption.
Liccardo was very open about his intent to use this bill as an act of protest. He got 12 other Democrats to co-sponsor the bill, but it doesn’t have bipartisan support.
The Republican Party has shown clear signs that it’s very pro-crypto as advertised, but it’s important not to overstate the fact. Yet, even the GOP’s crypto skeptics would have no reason to oppose their President publicly.
In short, the MEME Act may not end up doing anything to stop TRUMP or the political meme coin craze. Still, Liccardo’s effort may be an important building block. It may help build future legislation or gauge the feasibility of GOP crypto skepticism.
Ostensibly, the industry has more political power than ever, but this power hasn’t faced a real test.
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