Donald Trump reports $636 million in memecoin royalties on his financial disclosure. The nearly one million people who bought that coin have lost a combined $3.81 billion. California has now made sure its own politicians can’t try the same thing.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2409 into law on Sunday. It bars the state’s public officials from issuing memecoins, which are cryptocurrencies built around a famous personality, an internet joke or a viral trend instead of a specific use case.
Newsom’s office was not subtle about it. It titled the announcement “THE OPPOSITE OF TRUMP.”
An announcement with one target
The release accused the Trump administration of corruption and self-dealing. It gave the viral $TRUMP memecoin as one example.
“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,” Newsom said in the press release.
Trump’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The law has one clear gap. It isn’t clear whether the ban reaches meme tokens that already exist, such as $TRUMP. That means the coin at the center of the whole announcement may not be covered at all.
What the numbers show
$TRUMP launched three days before Trump’s early 2025 inauguration. Buyers rushed in, and within a day or two the price went from under $1 to $75. That put its market capitalization at $14 billion.
The price then fell just as quickly, and small holders took most of the losses.
According to data tracked by Nansen, 988,905 buyers lost a combined $3.81 billion. Trump Organization affiliates own about 80% of the supply. At the time of writing, the token trades at $2.03.
Seen together, the numbers explain why Newsom’s team singled out the coin: $636 million in royalties for Trump and $3.81 billion in losses for buyers.
One of 11 bills
Newsom signed AB 2409 along with 10 other bills on corruption and consumer protection.
Two of those bills deal directly with crypto. One sets rules for paying back victims of crypto scams. The other creates a legal process for seizing crypto from transnational criminal networks.
For ordinary Californians, those two bills may matter more than the memecoin ban. The ban stops future officials from launching coins. The restitution rules help people who have already lost money.
The politics
Newsom’s second and final term as governor ends in January. He is widely seen as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, and a bill package called “THE OPPOSITE OF TRUMP” fits that kind of campaign.
If you hold $TRUMP at $2.03, a California law about future coins won’t change your position. What the law does is stop the next state official from launching a coin of their own days before taking office.