OUT OF SCOPE Ep. 2: Anything But Crypto with David Hoffman

We've made it almost to the end, so I'm gonna ask now.

We spent this entire conversation avoiding clarity, and Congress did, too.

That's right.

Yeah.

That's-- I, I...

This whole episode-

Wow

... was a setup just for me to say that.

Um, the CLARITY Act was pushed past the window the industry had been working towards.

Uh, David, what actually prevented it from moving?

To some de- to some degree, this is what the banks want.

Like, the banks are very happy for it to get punted.

Like, uh, uh, CLARITY is, like, the bank- the banks are just happy for...

Well, I do think they want the stable coins to get rewired, but, um, like, de- delaying and deferring progress in crypto just always benefits the incumbents, and I think that's what the, the banking sector wants.

Also, I think that's also true with the Democrats as well.

Like, Democrats are just happy to not sign.

Um, like, they're just getting this across the line doesn't really matter to them.

Uh, and so there's just, well, there wasn't a, to- at least on the side of not caring, there was a lot of weight, um, the banks and the Democrats.

Uh, yeah, I feel like there, th- there's more to the answer, but I think those are, that's a very big force.

Well, okay.

Um, so if CLARITY, like, never passes, what, like, meaningfully changes and what doesn't?

The, the permanence of a lot of this stuff is not, is u- under threat.

Uh, and so we can get a lot of the vibe of CLARITY from the SEC, and that's explicitly what Paul Atkins has said, is like, "Fuck it, we don't need CLARITY.

We'll just do it ourselves." Um, but locking that in as law, like, the Democrats could come in and, and win next, uh, presidency and then just undo everything.

Uh-