California’s Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law that bans certain memecoins in the most populous American state.
Specifically, the law prevents the state’s public officials from issuing memecoins or other cryptocurrencies representing a famous personality, internet joke, or viral trend.
The move comes after U.S. President Donald Trump has made millions of dollars from issuing his own memecoins.
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The memecoin ban was signed into law along with several other bills related to cryptocurrencies that concern corruption and consumer protection.
Other legislation outlines the rules for paying back victims of cryptocurrency scams and creates a legal process to seize crypto from criminal networks.
Newsom’s office titled the announcement of the new crypto legislation “THE OPPOSITE OF TRUMP,” accusing the president of self-dealing with his TRUMP coin (CRYPTO: $TRUMP).
It’s not immediately clear if the ban in California covers meme tokens already in existence, such as $TRUMP.
The U.S. president launched his $TRUMP memecoin three days before his 2025 inauguration, and the frenzy was so intense that the price rose from less than $1 U.S. to $75 U.S. in a day.
However, purchasers of the $TRUMP memecoin later lost a combined $3.81 billion U.S. as its price dropped sharply.
Trump’s financial disclosure lists $636 million U.S. in royalties from the memecoin. The $TRUMP memecoin is currently trading at just over $2 U.S. per token.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is widely seen as a 2028 presidential candidate for the Democratic party.