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Key Takeaways
- Cuomo called passage of the CLARITY Act a necessity, saying the U.S. is already behind other jurisdictions like the EU on crypto rules.
- The Senate broke for recess without voting; Democrats want stronger ethics provisions before supporting the bill.
- Cuomo, who leads a joint venture between OKX and ICE, has a direct commercial stake in the bill’s passage, particularly around tokenized securities.
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told an audience at the SALT conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that Congress needs to pass the CLARITY Act because the United States has already fallen behind other jurisdictions on crypto rules.
Cuomo, who now leads a joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, argued the bill is a necessity rather than simply a preference.
What the Bill Would Actually Do
The CLARITY Act would establish federal rules for the crypto market and clarify which regulators oversee different categories of digital assets, a determination that currently varies depending on how a given token or platform is classified.
Cuomo said that ambiguity has made it difficult for companies to build products in the United States without a clear sense of where regulatory lines fall.
The bill has been a central legislative priority for the crypto industry for more than a year. Backers argue a single federal framework would replace the current patchwork of state rules and case-by-case regulatory enforcement actions that companies have had to navigate. Cuomo framed the stakes bluntly:
“It can pass because it has to pass because we’re already way behind.”
Where the Bill Stands in Congress
The Senate broke for its August recess without voting on the bill. Majority Leader John Thune has scheduled the first procedural vote for immediately after the chamber returns next month.
Senate Democrats have said they want stronger ethics provisions before supporting the legislation, and Senators Ruben Gallego and Thom Tillis are currently waiting on the White House to respond to the ethics language they proposed.
Other unresolved issues include law enforcement provisions and rules governing stablecoin rewards, disputes that have repeatedly pushed back the bill’s timeline over the past several months.
Cuomo Compares the U.S. to the EU
Cuomo argued that the uncertainty extends beyond any single provision. He said companies need to understand which conduct is permitted and which is not before they can commit to building in the U.S. market, comparing the current environment to operating without agreed-upon rules of competition.
He contrasted the U.S. approach with the European Union, which has already implemented a bloc-wide regulatory framework for crypto assets under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation. Without comparable federal legislation, Cuomo said, the United States risks losing business and investment to markets that have already established clearer rules.
A Call for Compromise Over Blame
Cuomo pushed back on efforts to assign blame for the bill’s delay to either political party, arguing that disagreements over ethics provisions and other unresolved sections should not be allowed to derail the legislation entirely.
He said passing the bill will require compromise from both sides rather than either party holding out for a version closer to its own preferences.
If Congress does not act, Cuomo said, regulators will be left to set crypto policy through their own rulemaking, which could shift each time political control in Washington changes hands. He argued that outcome would make long-term planning more difficult for both crypto firms and the traditional financial institutions increasingly building products alongside them.
Cuomo’s Own Stake in the Outcome
Cuomo’s position is not disinterested. His joint venture with OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is building infrastructure intended to connect crypto markets with traditional financial systems.
One area of focus for the venture is tokenized securities. Cuomo said this could eventually let assets such as U.S. stocks trade around the clock and reach investors globally. He said this goal would benefit from the same regulatory clarity he is calling for in Washington.
The venture, announced earlier this year, gives Cuomo a direct commercial interest in how Congress ultimately resolves the market-structure debate, in addition to his role as a public advocate for the bill.
Cuomo also said regulatory clarity alone will not resolve the industry’s challenges. He pointed to past scandals and the sector’s association with illicit finance as separate problems that have left crypto companies with a credibility gap among traditional investors and policymakers, regardless of what Congress ultimately decides on market structure rules.
