California's Newsom signs memecoin ban and calls it 'The Opposite of Trump'

California Governor Gavin Newsom has enacted AB 2409, a law that forbids state public officials from creating or issuing memecoins — cryptocurrencies tied to a famous person, internet joke or viral trend rather than a defined utility. The bill was signed as part of an 11-bill legislative package addressing corruption, consumer protection and crypto-related crime, and accompanies measures aimed at compensating crypto scam victims and establishing processes to seize cryptocurrency from transnational criminal networks. Newsom explicitly linked the memecoin ban to the controversy around the $TRUMP token, using a press release titled "THE OPPOSITE OF TRUMP" and accusing the former president of profiting from crypto in ways that harmed ordinary people. The governor said no public official should profit from their office and presented the new law as a step to prevent such outcomes in California. The $TRUMP memecoin is cited in the announcement as a motivating example: the token reportedly surged from under $1 to about $75 within days of its launch, briefly reaching a market capitalization near $14 billion before collapsing. On-chain analysis firm Nansen is cited as showing 988,905 buyers suffered total losses of about $3.81 billion, while President Trump’s financial disclosure reportedly lists $636 million in royalties and affiliates of the Trump Organization are said to hold roughly 80% of the token supply. The article notes the token was trading near $2.03 at the time of reporting. The new law’s reach to preexisting meme tokens is not definitively clarified in the announcement. The signing occurs during Newsom’s second and final gubernatorial term, which ends in January; he is widely viewed as a possible candidate for the 2028 presidential race.