Biden Advocates For Congressional Stock Trading Ban

According to Cointelegraph, United States President Joe Biden has expressed support for measures to prohibit members of Congress from engaging in stock trading while in office. This stance was reportedly shared during an interview with the labor advocacy group A More Perfect Union, set to be released soon. President Biden emphasized that no member of Congress should profit from stock market activities during their tenure. President Biden has previously refrained from commenting on legislative efforts aimed at restricting or banning stock trading by Congress members. These proposed laws have garnered bipartisan backing in past congressional sessions. In July, both the House of Representatives and the Senate supported an agreement to prevent the President, Vice President, and Congress members from trading or selling various financial instruments, including securities, commodities, futures, options, trusts, and similar holdings. The proposed ban could also encompass cryptocurrency transactions, as many Congress members have disclosed holdings in digital assets under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, enacted in 2012. President Biden, who served as a senator for Delaware from 1973 to 2009, stated that he relied solely on his Senate salary and did not engage in stock market trading. While he has not extensively addressed cryptocurrency during his presidency, he did issue an executive order in 2022 to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets. Concerns about potential conflicts of interest have arisen, particularly with President-elect Donald Trump, who reportedly holds significant cryptocurrency assets. Trump, along with other lawmakers, has been supported by the crypto industry in the 2024 election. Experts have raised questions about whether their priorities in office might align more with personal financial interests and supporters rather than the broader American public. Trump has not indicated plans to divest from his businesses before his inauguration on January 20. Additionally, Trump has announced intentions to appoint an "AI and crypto czar" and has allowed Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to proceed with establishing an advisory commission on government efficiency, named after the meme token Dogecoin (DOGE). Senator Cynthia Lummis, known for her Bitcoin holdings, has proposed legislation for the US to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve, a move experts believe could drive up the cryptocurrency's price. The report did not clarify whether President Biden would support extending the stock trading ban to the nine justices of the US Supreme Court, who are currently permitted to trade stocks but face potential conflicts of interest if they do not recuse themselves from relevant cases.