US senators attempt to ban Trump's 'profoundly corrupt' crypto schemes

US senators are attempting to ban presidents and their families from investing in and promoting cryptocurrency, calling it a "profoundly corrupt scheme".

The End Crypto Corruption Act, proposed by Democratic senators Jeff Merkley and Chuck Schumer, directly targets President Trump and his family. The Trumps are thought to have made tens of millions from cryptocurrency ventures, including the $TRUMP and $MELANIA coins they launched days before the inauguration.

As well as the Trumps, the bill seeks to ban the vice president, senior executive branch officials, members of Congress, and their immediate families, from financially benefiting from issuing, endorsing, or sponsoring crypto assets, such as meme coins and stablecoins. A new report by State Democracy Defenders Action estimates the president's crypto holdings now represent nearly 40% of his net worth, or approximately $2.9bn (£2.1bn).

"Currently, people who wish to cultivate influence with the president can enrich him personally by buying cryptocurrency he owns or controls," said Senator Merkley. "This is a profoundly corrupt scheme.

It endangers our national security and erodes public trust in government. Let's end this corruption immediately." Two days ago, Mr Schumer and another senior Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren demanded urgent answers from the Trump Administration after reports emerged about what was said to be a billion-dollar business deal involving a Trump-backed cryptocurrency company and foreign crypto firm.

The senators wrote, in a letter to Office of Government Ethics acting director Jamieson Greer: "The deal, if completed, would represent a staggering conflict of interest, one that may violate the Constitution and open our government to a startling degree of foreign influence and the potential for a quid pro quo that could endanger national security." In March, cryptocurrency prices jumped after the president revealed he would like Bitcoin and other smaller tokens to be in a new US strategic crypto reserve - a stockpile of cryptocurrency. Mr Trump first introduced the idea of the stockpile last summer at major industry conference Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville.

Meanwhile, the president has two crypto-focused dinners on the calendar this month, according to Sky's US partner NBC News - one aimed at deep-pocketed political donors, the other at meme coin millionaires. Both are poised to help him rake in millions, NBC says.

Read more from Sky News:'Vaccine misinformation will lead to more deaths'Donald Trump denies posting image of himself as popeSome GCSE results to be released digitally Despite being critical of cryptocurrency in his first term, President Trump has come full circle and is now a champion of the decentralised currency. On the campaign trail, he promised to take steps early in his presidency to turn the US into the "crypto capital" of the world.

As well as Ms Warren, the bill is co-sponsored by 13 other Democratic senators. It is not clear at this stage whether or how it will proceed..