Hoskinson Blames TRUMP Token Launch for Clarity Act Delay

• Hoskinson says Trump-linked tokens changed Clarity Act optics in Washington.
• The Cardano founder ties Senate delays to political blowback ahead of 2026.
• David Sacks points to a January 2026 markup as the next policy milestone.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said President Donald Trump’s entry into crypto via a Trump-linked memecoin turned a market-structure push into a political fight, slowing momentum for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in the Senate. 

Hoskinson argues the timing mattered because the bill was still unfinished, leaving critics room to frame the legislation as self-serving. The claim lands as traders track Washington for a clear split between commodity-style crypto oversight and securities rules, with altcoins still lagging Bitcoin’s leadership.

Related: Trump Family Profits from ‘Crypto Capital’ Push as Conflicts Mount

Hoskinson ties Clarity Act delays to Trump token optics

According to Hoskinson, the launch of the TRUMP meme before passing the Clarity Act heavily politicized the industry due to the ongoing Senate bipartisan delays. Hoskinson argued that President Trump has every right to launch a memecoin but the fact that he is active in Federal office changed the optics of the Clarity Act.

Moreover, Hoskinson noted that the Clarity Act was supported to pass by 77 votes in the Senate out of the 60-vote threshold. In the past few weeks, the bipartisan efforts to pass the Clarity Act, like those in the House of Representatives earlier this year, have been frustrated with delays.

According to Hoskinson, the fact that President Trump and the First Lady launched their personal memecoins, which have dumped over 93% from their respective peaks, resulted in a loophole identified by the other side of the political divide. 

Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, Hoskinson noted that the crypto votes have been politicized.

“If the framework had passed first, TrumpCoin could have launched later with legal clarity, less backlash, and likely more success,” Hoskinson noted.

The Clarity Act frames the CFTC versus SEC split

Hoskinson’s broader point is that the Clarity Act is meant to settle the regulator map by drawing clearer lines between assets treated like commodities and assets treated like securities. 

In the draft’s framing, that matters most for exchanges and most altcoins, which the industry expects to land closer to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, while securities-style token offerings and tokenized financial products face Securities and Exchange Commission rules. 

The implication is that the bill is less about one token and more about listing, trading, and compliance for the next cycle of products.

How Does the Clarity Act Relate to Crypto Supercycle?

According to Hoskinson, the ongoing Senate’s bipartisan delays in passing the Clarity Act have derailed the 2025 crypto bull market. He noted that the wider altcoin market failed to hit a new all-time high during the fourth quarter due to the Senate’s failure to pass the Clarity Act on time.

Notably, the wider altcoin market failed to follow Bitcoin towards their respective new ATHs, thus the total crypto market cap has slipped from a peak of over $4.1 trillion to hover about $2.96 trillion at press time. 

Earlier today, David Sacks, the White House AI and crypto czar, stated that the President will push to pass the Clarity Act in January 2026. Sacks noted that the Senate Banking Committee, led by Chair Tim Scott, will hold a markup for the Clarity Act in January 2026.

Consequently, a crypto supercycle may happen in February and March as predicted by top analysts led by Alice Liu, the Head of Research at CoinMarketCap.

Related: Crypto Czar David Sacks Confirms Clarity Act Markup for January 2026