HR3849-119

What This Bill Does

The STABLE GENIUS Act is a digital-asset conflict-of-interest bill. It defines covered individuals to include the President, Vice President, Senators, Representatives, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and candidates for those offices. Covered investments are digital assets recorded on cryptographically secured distributed ledgers or similar technology. Prohibited financial transactions include issuing, sponsoring, or endorsing a digital asset; purchasing, selling, holding, or otherwise obtaining one; acquiring comparable interests through derivatives such as options or warrants; or acquiring comparable interests through mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, or similar pooled products. The prohibition applies from candidate filing through election day, during the covered official's term of service, and for one year after service ends. Covered digital assets must be placed in a qualified blind trust approved by the supervising ethics office. Trustees must divest the assets within six months, certify annually that they have not shared trust asset or transaction information with the covered individual, and lack close personal or business relationships with the covered individual. Supervising ethics offices must publish covered blind-trust agreements online, and the Federal Election Commission becomes the supervising ethics office for candidates. The bill also removes immunity for conduct comprising or relating to a prohibited financial transaction and creates penalties under title 18.

Who Benefits and How

Government ethics organizations benefit from a digital-asset-specific ban on official and candidate conflicts of interest. Voter advocacy organizations benefit from public qualified blind trust agreements and limits on officials endorsing or holding digital assets. Digital asset investors benefit if high-office endorsements and holdings face conflict-of-interest limits. Supervising ethics office staff benefit from explicit rules for digital-asset trusts and trustee certifications.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Federal officeholders must stop issuing, sponsoring, endorsing, holding, trading, or synthetically acquiring digital assets. Federal campaign committees must comply with the ban from filing through election day and use FEC-supervised blind trusts. Blind trust administrators must divest covered digital assets within six months and certify no information sharing each year. Digital asset issuers linked to public officials lose access to official sponsorship or endorsement.

Key Provisions

• Prohibits covered officials and candidates from digital-asset issuance, sponsorship, endorsement, holding, trading, or synthetic exposure.
• Extends the prohibition through candidacy, service, and one year after service.
• Requires covered digital assets to be placed in approved qualified blind trusts.
• Requires trustees to divest covered assets within six months and certify no information sharing annually.
• Requires supervising ethics offices to publish qualified blind trust agreements.
• Adds FEC supervision for candidates in covered federal elections.
• Creates liability and penalties for prohibited digital-asset transactions.