Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano and Midnight, stated that the implementation of crypto legislation in the United States may take up to 15 years to be completed. The Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act is still under negotiation in Congress, with no vote scheduled in the Senate.
The bill faces resistance, especially regarding topics such as decentralized finance and demands put forth by the Democratic Party. Hoskinson warned that the legislation could be used politically, depending on which party is in power in 2029, which adds a degree of uncertainty to the regulatory process.
Furthermore, the founder of Cardano relates the loss of support for the crypto sector to the impact caused by the bankruptcy of Sam Bankman-Fried’s exchange FTX. According to him, the fact that FTX sponsored personalities like Tom Brady amplified the negative repercussions for the entire market.
Hoskinson criticized the standard classification the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been making about new crypto projects, treating them as securities (stocks). He highlighted that the regulatory body has no incentive to change this stance, which benefits already established cryptocurrencies like Cardano, XRP, and Ethereum.
According to Hoskinson, the excessive focus on regulating the yield of stablecoins ignores more relevant issues in the sector. He also warned that the current legislative text tries to cover numerous topics in a single regulation, which results in a complex and hard-to-apply document.
Another point highlighted refers to the absence of technical experts in the discussions that formulate the rules for the crypto market. Thus, he relates the difficulty of passing bipartisan legislation to political polarization, intensified mainly after Donald Trump’s government.
Hoskinson pointed out that the Democrats’ narrative, which associates cryptocurrencies with corruption and the figure of former president Trump, has made it difficult to reach consensus around regulation. For him, decentralization and the global nature of cryptocurrencies were not adequately considered in the formulation of American laws.
The founder suggested that U.S. regulations be aligned with those of other regions, such as Europe, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, and Singapore. Without global coordination, he warned that there could be incompatibility between North American and European regulations, which harms market standardization.
Hoskinson views the current regulatory phase as a lost opportunity to create efficient crypto legislation with support from both parties. He predicts that the sector will continue facing legal uncertainties in the short term, impacting the development of cryptocurrencies in the country.
Finally, the new regulatory framework foresees that exchanges and custody platforms will have six months to obtain the required financial licenses to operate legally. The completion of the process still depends on approval by the American Congress, which will review the main points of the proposal in the coming weeks.
