Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, said a sitting president should not directly participate in the cryptocurrency market.

On July 24 local time, blockchain outlet The Crypto Basic reported that Hoskinson said U.S. President Donald Trump’s involvement in cryptocurrency businesses is amplifying conflict-of-interest controversy and that he should step back from the market while in office.

The remarks came after Senator Elizabeth Warren voiced opposition to a recently revised "Clarity bill". Warren said the bill is not sufficient to prevent Trump from gaining financial benefit from crypto-related businesses while in office. She said it also lacks safeguards to address illicit money flows and to protect investors and the financial system.

Warren said the bill in particular fails to address potential conflicts of interest tied to Trump’s crypto businesses. She also mentioned that his related businesses generated about $1.4 billion in revenue last year.

Trump is linked to multiple crypto ventures, including the "Official Trump" (TRUMP) memecoin and the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) project. This has kept a debate going in Washington over whether the president’s public position could conflict with private business.

Hoskinson said he has raised the same issue for more than a year. He said taking a political approach to crypto regulation was wrong from the start. He said this has strengthened the perception that crypto regulation revolves around Trump and has made bipartisan cooperation more difficult.

He added that if crypto becomes a partisan agenda, meaningful progress will be difficult. Given the immense influence of the presidency and privileged access to information, Trump qualifies as the "ultimate insider," he said.

He said he does not often take the same position as Warren, but he said her concern about a president’s participation in financial markets is justified. He added that stronger safeguards are needed to prevent potential conflicts of interest and to protect public trust in crypto policymaking.

In this situation, the Clarity bill is emerging as a key issue in Washington. Early last week, Republican lawmakers introduced a revision that includes new ethics provisions. The revision would bar the president and vice president, members of Congress and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets while in office.

Even so, passage of the bill remains uncertain. U.S. congressional leaders are pushing to bring it to a Senate floor vote before the August recess, but a tight legislative schedule and continuing Democratic criticism over the effectiveness of the ethics provisions could delay its passage. The debate is ultimately focusing not only on crypto regulation itself but also on how far to restrict market participation by the president and public officials.