Hoskinson Warns U.S. Crypto Legislation Could Take 15 Years and May Never Work

Cardano and Midnight founder Charles Hoskinson has raised serious doubts about the future of U.S. crypto regulation, warning that even if the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act passes, its real-world implementation could take up to 15 years of rulemaking — and may ultimately collapse under shifting political administrations.

Speaking to CoinDesk, Hoskinson argued the bill remains structurally flawed and politically fragile. He cautioned that future Democratic leadership could exploit loopholes in the existing text to turn the legislation against the very industry it was designed to regulate. "If the Democrats win in 2029, there are avenues in the existing text that they can use to weaponize the CLARITY Act," he said.

Hoskinson traces the current hostile regulatory climate back to the 2022 collapse of FTX, the Sam Bankman-Fried-led exchange that he believes permanently soured Democratic attitudes toward cryptocurrency. Before that scandal, he notes, the industry enjoyed relatively strong bipartisan backing in Congress.

One of Hoskinson's sharpest criticisms targets how the bill treats new crypto projects as securities by default — a classification he warns they may never escape. He argues the SEC has little incentive to reclassify any asset, effectively creating a regulatory barrier that benefits established cryptocurrencies like Cardano, Ethereum, and XRP, while blocking emerging projects from gaining traction or liquidity.

He also slammed the broader debate for fixating on peripheral issues like stablecoin yield rather than deeper structural problems. Hoskinson further criticized lawmakers for lacking the technical expertise needed to craft workable crypto policy and for failing to align U.S. rules with global frameworks such as the EU's MiCA, or standards in Singapore, Japan, and Abu Dhabi.

Without international coordination, he warned, U.S. crypto regulation risks becoming globally incompatible — isolating American markets rather than strengthening them.