MEME Act Bans Federal Officials from Profiting Off Crypto and Stock Promotion, Imposing $250K Fines and 15-Year Sentences

The Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement Act, or MEME Act, is a direct response to the idea that federal officials might be using their public platform to shill financial products for personal gain. This bill is straightforward: it blocks high-ranking government employees—and their families—from making money by promoting stocks, commodities, or even digital assets like crypto and NFTs.

The Ban on Shilling: Who’s Covered and What’s Out?

This isn't about trading; it's about promotion. The bill creates a new line in the sand, prohibiting what it calls a "prohibited financial transaction." Essentially, if you are a "covered individual" (President, VP, etc.) or an "adjacent individual" (senior executive service, high-ranking military, and their spouses/dependent children), you cannot issue, sponsor, or promote a "covered asset" if you stand to make money from it. Crucially, this ban covers traditional assets like stocks and futures, but it modernizes the rules by explicitly including digital assets like cryptocurrencies, meme coins, tokens, and NFTs (SEC. 3).

If you’re thinking of running for office, note this: the ban applies while you are serving, but also during the 180 days before you start and the 180 days after you leave. So, that high-profile crypto influencer who lands a senior executive job would have to stop promoting assets six months before their first day. This is a clear attempt to prevent officials from leveraging their incoming or outgoing status for a quick buck.

The Real-World Stakes: Fines and Hard Time

This bill doesn't mess around with penalties. If the Attorney General finds you knowingly violated the promotion ban, you face a civil fine of up to $250,000 and have to give back any profit you made from the activity to the U.S. Treasury (Title 5, Section 13152(a)). Think of it as a very expensive clawback.

But the criminal penalties are where things get serious. If the violation involves a loss of at least $1 million to the public, or if it involves financial benefit to the official or their associates, they face up to 5 years in prison. If the promotion ban violation crosses into territory like bribery, corruption, or insider trading (under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), the penalty jumps significantly: up to 15 years in prison, fines up to three times the financial gain, and the official can be banned from holding future federal office. This is essentially treating asset promotion corruption with the same severity as major financial crimes (Title 18).

Why This Matters to Everyone Else

While this bill directly restricts the financial freedom of a small group of high-ranking officials and their families, the benefit is for the rest of us. Congress states its belief that when officials promote financial products, it betrays public trust and opens the door to bribery and exploitation (SEC. 2). By shutting down the ability of officials to use their platform to pump up their own investments—whether it’s a stock they own or a crypto project they were paid to endorse—the MEME Act aims to reduce conflicts of interest and boost public confidence that our leaders are working for the country, not their portfolio. The fact that the bill explicitly states that these promotional actions are unofficial acts means officials can’t hide behind official immunity if they break these rules, making enforcement much cleaner.