California law bars public officials from issuing meme coins
Victoria Shinder2 min readCalifornia Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills on 27 September that includes two aimed at cryptocurrency. The governor's office announced them in a release with a sharply political headline directed at President Trump, who launched a meme coin in 2025; the laws themselves apply to California.
Assembly Bill 2409, by Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, deals with meme coins. According to the release, it prevents California public officials from issuing meme coins and prevents companies from listing any meme coin that uses the likeness or image of a public official. The release describes a meme coin as a cryptocurrency built around an internet joke, celebrity or trend, whose price is usually driven by hype and speculation rather than an underlying business or use.
Senate Bill 1208, by Senator Tim Grayson, addresses money laundering with digital assets. The release says the package establishes a clear legal process for seizing crypto assets from transnational criminal networks and sets guidelines for restitution to victims of crypto scams and fraud.
The same signing covered unrelated consumer measures, including refunds and speculative sales in ticketing, reservation resale, privacy settings in operating systems and apps, and data deletion requests.
What it means
AB 2409 is narrow and specific: it targets the conflict of interest that arises when an elected or appointed official can profit from a token trading on their name or position. The listing restriction extends that to platforms, which in practice means exchanges operating in California will need a way to identify tokens using an official's likeness.
SB 1208 matters more to the industry's day-to-day work. Clear procedures for seizure and restitution are what prosecutors and victims have lacked in many states, and exchanges and custodians will be the parties receiving the orders. The text of both bills, rather than the release, will determine how broadly terms such as "meme coin" and "public official" apply.