This week, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, led Committee Democrats including Representatives Brad Sherman (D-CA), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Bill Foster (D-IL), Sean Casten (D-IL), and Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), in blocking a joint crypto hearing held by Republicans on the Financial Services and Agriculture Committee following a refusal by Republicans to include provisions in legislation to stop President Trump from profiting off of crypto.

Given the rules for joint committees, without approval from all Members, the hearing cannot proceed. After blocking the hearing, Waters led Committee Democrats in convening a Democratic-hearing joined by experts, where they discussed the following:

• Trump’s exploitation of the Executive Office: Since taking office, Trump has used the presidency to launch and shamelessly promote several crypto ventures that benefit himself and his family. These include:
  
  
  • $TRUMP meme coin: A blatant pump and dump scheme, which helped inflate his net worth by more than $350 million while defrauding investors of over $2 billion.
    
    
  • $Melania Coin: Shortly after, his wife Melania launched her own crypto. At the time of this hearing news reports shared insiders made nearly $100 million.
    
    
  • Trump Stablecoin: In March, President Trump’s company, World Liberty Financial announced the launch of its stablecoin, conveniently named USD1, just before the Committee was scheduled to vote on legislation. This venture brings several ethical concerns, including foreign governments using this stablecoin to funnel money directly to Trump. For example, in Abu Dhabi an investment firm recently used USD1 for a $2 billion investment in the crypto exchange Binance.
    
    
  • American Bitcoin and a Digital Asset Reserve: In April, Trump’s sons launched their own Bitcoin company, American Bitcoin. Around the same time President Trump ordered the Treasury to establish a Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Strategic Reserve, a move that would boost the value of the Bitcoin he and his Cabinet Members own, using taxpayer resources.
    
    
• Republican complicity in the face of Trump corruption: Despite mounting evidence of Trump’s conflict of interest, Republicans have failed to act, instead choosing to turn a blind eye further enabling his blatant abuse of power.
  
  
• National security concerns: Trump’s crypto dealings could compromise national security and invite foreign influence by allowing adversaries like China and Russia to curry favor, either blatantly or anonymously, through transfers of money to him and his inner circle. In fact, at the time of this hearing there were news reports that insiders made nearly $100 million on Melania’s meme coin.
  
  
• Need for crypto regulation: The lack of official federal oversight has turned the crypto industry into a field day for scammers, leaving investors exposed and unprotected. The situation is especially concerning when lawmakers and a sitting president are allowed to use crypto without proper oversight. Congresswoman Waters unveiled legislative text that would address these concerns.
  

Congresswoman Waters and Committee Democrats called on the Republican majority to exercise their constitutional duty to hold the president accountable and conduct a thorough investigation into Trump’s crypto dealings. They also vowed to keep up the pressure until Trump’s crypto grift stops.

Watch the full hearing HERE.

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