Charles Hoskinson isn’t mincing words. The Cardano founder is going after the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 hard, calling it “horrific trash” and “BS” across YouTube and X broadcasts. He’s not exactly thrilled about it.
His core complaint? The bill, H.R. 3633, fundamentally treats almost every digital asset as a security right out of the gate. New projects get slapped with SEC jurisdiction by default under something called “investment contract asset” status. Even big names like Ethereum and XRP would have fallen under this at launch. That’s not clarity. That’s a trap.
Every new crypto project starts life as a security under this bill. That’s not clarity — that’s a trap.
Getting out of SEC jurisdiction isn’t simple either. The path to becoming a “digital commodity” under CFTC is, in Hoskinson’s view, practically impossible. The SEC can drag its feet through rulemaking, set decentralization standards nobody can realistically meet, and apply vague “value attribution” tests that keep projects stuck indefinitely. Developers end up begging regulators for permission to exist. Not exactly the American dream.
The bill cleared House committees with bipartisan support and 137 amendments, but Hoskinson says those amendments practically handed the SEC more control. He’s also annoyed it does nothing meaningful for DeFi, stablecoins, or prediction markets. It even bans yield on stablecoin balances. Groundbreaking stuff.
Not everyone in crypto agrees with him. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse actually supports the bill, arguing clarity beats chaos and that fixes can come later. Ripple CTO David Schwartz has similarly suggested that a sub-optimal bill is still preferable to having no legislation in place at all. Hoskinson compared him to Judas for that take. Subtle.
Hoskinson’s prediction: American founders will simply move offshore rather than navigate this regulatory minefield. Future innovation leaves the country. Established projects like Cardano and XRP might get grandfathered in, but newer builders get nothing. Investors navigating this uncertain landscape would be wise to consider portfolio diversification strategies to spread risk across various cryptocurrency categories rather than concentrating holdings in projects facing regulatory uncertainty. Senate committees are scheduled to vote on the CLARITY Act this week, aiming to clarify SEC and CFTC roles in crypto regulation.
He also doubts the bill passes this quarter anyway. He blames Trump crypto adviser David Sacks and warns that if Democrats recapture the House, this window closes entirely. He’s predicting no real regulatory clarity until 2029.
His argument is almost counterintuitive: the current ambiguity at least allowed court wins. A bad bill, he says, is worse than no bill at all.
