Sometimes you can get exactly what you wished for and still end up disappointed. That seems to be where Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson finds himself with the Trump administration's approach to cryptocurrency.

When Your Biggest Fan Becomes Your Biggest Problem

Speaking Monday at the Midnight Network Summit in an interview with CoinDesk, Hoskinson admitted that many in the industry, himself included, were optimistic that the new administration under President Donald Trump would be a "magic net positive" for crypto.

"He's literally [the reason the] U.S. government has become a bag holder," Hoskinson said. "It's like the biggest economy in the world and it's gone from trying to kill crypto to embracing crypto."

That should be good news, right? Well, not exactly.

The Bear Hug Problem

Hoskinson, who also co-founded Ethereum (ETH), used a colorful metaphor to explain the issue: "Sometimes by having a big guy hug you, they hug too hard and they love too much, and it kind of crushes your ribs."

The problem isn't that the government is hostile anymore. It's that they're being too enthusiastic and "hand-fisted" in their approach. According to Hoskinson, some of these measures have been "little unhelpful" for the industry.

"So it created an irrational exuberance and interfered with our normal four-year cycle that we have," he argued.

Despite his concerns, Hoskinson remains optimistic that the CLARITY Act would pass in the first quarter of 2026, after which he expects the normal bull market cycle to resume.

A Notable Change of Tune

The criticism is particularly interesting given Hoskinson's track record. He was one of Trump's most vocal supporters heading into the 2024 presidential election, accusing former President Joe Biden of actively working to stifle Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader cryptocurrency industry.

Earlier this year, Hoskinson said he'd never seen a "more pro-crypto composition" with respect to the U.S. government.

The relationship got even more interesting when Trump mentioned ADA, Cardano's native token, as one of the assets that would make up the proposed U.S. cryptocurrency reserve. However, White House cryptocurrency czar David Sacks later clarified that the list was likely just an illustration of leading market-cap assets rather than a definitive plan.

Price Action: At the time of writing, ADA was trading at $0.4652, down 5.76% in the last 24 hours.