Charles Hoskinson publicly challenged Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse over his support for the draft CLARITY Act, calling the bill a dangerous compromise rather than real regulatory clarity.
The Cardano founder argued during a recent livestream that the current bill version, which seeks to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets while promoting innovation, would hand too much power to regulators and undermine crypto’s core principles.
Hoskinson claimed that the legislation, after 137 amendments, effectively hands “the entire keys to the cryptocurrency kingdom” to the SEC, requiring projects to seek exemptions rather than operating freely.
“You have to go beg and plead for them to make it not a security. All new projects are securities by default. How is that any better than what scary Gary gave us under Biden?” he said.
Hoskinson directly challenged Garlinghouse’s pragmatic stance on the bill.
“You still got people like Brad saying, well, it’s not perfect, but we just got to get something,” he stressed. “Hand it to the same people who sued us. That’s better?”
The Cardano founder questioned whether passing flawed legislation could ever be corrected, citing the Securities Exchange Act of 1933.
“93 years later, have we been able to change it? No. You pass it, you own it forever,” he said. “Sorry, Brad. It’s not better than chaos.”
Hoskinson framed his opposition in ideological terms, stating he “signed up for freedom” and “a revolution,” not a system where “everything is a custodial wallet” and “every transaction is KYC.”
He accused industry leaders of accepting compromised legislation in exchange for power, wealth, and elite status, abandoning the ideals of the crypto revolution.
“They’ve taken their silver so they can be part of a new oligarchy,” he said, emphasizing that crypto leaders mistakenly believe they will be treated better than ordinary users.
Hoskinson has become increasingly outspoken against the Trump administration’s approach to crypto.
He previously argued that the release of the Trump-backed meme coin in early 2025 undermined cross-party momentum, saying legislation such as the CLARITY Act had enjoyed strong support from both parties before the move.
More recently, he criticized David Sacks, saying that the White House AI and crypto czar failed the industry by allowing regulatory efforts to stall.