STABLE GENIUS Act

This bill aims to stop certain public officials and candidates from trading or holding digital assets, like cryptocurrencies, in ways that could create conflicts of interest. It says anyone covered by the rules cannot do prohibited financial transactions during their campaign, while in office, and for one year after leaving office. Instead, they must place any digital assets they own into a qualified blind trust approved by ethics officials. The trustee must sell off those assets within six months and cannot share details about the trust’s holdings with the official. Ethics offices must post copies of these blind trust agreements online, and the Federal Election Commission is added as a supervising ethics office for federal candidates.

If someone breaks these rules, the Attorney General can take them to court. Civil penalties can be up to $250,000, and any profits from the violation must be paid back to the U.S. Treasury. In serious cases—like causing at least $1,000,000 in losses or benefiting financially (directly or through family or business associates)—criminal penalties can include fines and up to 18 years in prison.

• What counts as a covered investment: any “digital asset,” meaning any digital value recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger or similar technology.

Key points

• Who is affected: Covered public officials and federal candidates, plus those within one year after they leave office.
• What changes: They cannot do prohibited financial transactions in digital assets; they must use approved blind trusts that sell those assets and keep them in the dark about the holdings.
• When it applies: From filing to run, through time in office, and for one year after leaving.
• Penalties: Up to $250,000 civil fine, pay back profits, and in serious cases, fines and up to 18 years in prison.