California bars public officials from issuing memecoins

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2409 on Sunday. The law bans the state's public officials from issuing memecoins. Memecoins are cryptocurrencies that represent a famous personality, an internet joke or a viral trend rather than a specific use case. Newsom signed the law alongside 10 other bills on corruption and consumer protection. The other bills set rules for repaying victims of crypto scams. Other bills create a legal process to seize crypto from transnational criminal networks. Newsom's office titled its announcement "The opposite of Trump." Newsom's office accused the Trump administration of corruption and self-dealing, including through the $TRUMP memecoin. Newsom said Trump continued to hurt American families. Newsom said no official should profit from public office. He said California was putting stronger protections in place to prevent that in the state. President Donald Trump has made millions from memecoins. The $TRUMP token generated billions in losses for holders. Trump's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It remains unclear whether the ban covers existing meme tokens such as $TRUMP.