California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed legislation prohibiting state and local public officials from issuing memecoins, adding a new restriction to the state’s digital-asset rules.
The measure, Assembly Bill 2409, was introduced by Assembly Member Avelino Valencia on Feb. 20, 2026, and was signed by Newsom on Sunday. It also limits the ability of digital-asset service providers to offer certain memecoins connected to public officials to California residents.
The law applies to tokens issued on or after Jan. 1, 2027. It covers memecoins issued by public officials or created in partnership with federal, state or local officials. The legislation therefore addresses both direct issuance by officials and the role of crypto businesses in making qualifying tokens available to people in California.
“No official should profit off their office — and we’re putting stronger protections in place to ensure it doesn’t happen in our state,” Newsom said Sunday, according to Cointelegraph. In announcing the signing, the governor also criticized US President Donald Trump’s launch of a memecoin in 2025.
What the California law changes
California law already bars state officers and employees from taking part in employment or running an enterprise that conflicts with their official responsibilities. AB 2409 adds a specific prohibition on issuing memecoins to the state Government Code.
Memecoins are crypto tokens generally associated with internet culture, public personalities or other themes rather than a conventional business purpose. The new California rule focuses on tokens linked to public officials and establishes restrictions that will apply to qualifying issuances from the start of 2027.
The law also gives several government legal officers authority to pursue violations through civil actions. Those officials include California’s attorney general, district attorneys, city attorneys and county counsel.
Separate digital-asset money-laundering measure
Newsom also signed Senate Bill 1208. That legislation expands California’s existing money-laundering statutes to cover illicit transactions conducted using digital assets.
It broadly authorizes law-enforcement agencies to freeze, seize and forfeit digital assets connected to criminal activity. While AB 2409 addresses memecoins associated with public officials, SB 1208 deals more generally with the use of digital assets in unlawful transactions and the powers available to authorities in response.
Together, the measures add restrictions and enforcement powers to California’s existing framework for digital assets. The memecoin provisions, however, do not take effect for tokens issued before Jan. 1, 2027, based on the source material.
Market picture from Moneyiar
Moneyiar market data at the given times showed mixed performance among the listed digital assets:
- Sui (SUI) was priced at $1.15999523 at 22:03 on Sept. 25, 2026, up 14.67% over 24 hours and 41.54% over seven days.
- Ethereum Name Service (ENS) stood at $7.0684912163 at 22:04, up 0.09% in 24 hours and 12.69% over seven days.
- Compound (COMP) was $23.8186759137 at 22:04, down 0.88% over 24 hours but up 13.75% over seven days.
- AKEDO (AKE) was $0.0322406544 at 22:03, down 9.78% in 24 hours and 27.87% over seven days.
