Cuomo urges crypto industry to back both parties to pass federal rules

Andrew Cuomo has some advice for the crypto industry. If it wants a federal law on the books, it needs friends on both sides of the aisle.

The former New York governor urged digital asset companies to balance their political support between Democrats and Republicans. His argument is that crypto legislation only passes, and only lasts, when both parties have a stake in it.

What Cuomo is asking for

Cuomo’s pitch centers on durability. He wants a regulatory framework that holds up regardless of which party controls Congress or the White House.

He warned against leaning on agency actions to set the rules. In his view, guidance and enforcement priorities from regulators can flip quickly after an election, leaving the sector exposed to sudden policy reversals.

His remarks are tied to the stalled CLARITY Act. That bill aims to spell out which federal regulator oversees which digital assets, dividing authority between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The CLARITY Act’s long Senate detour

The House passed the CLARITY Act in 2025. Then it hit the Senate, where things slowed considerably.

Bipartisan disagreements have kept senators from reaching consensus. On September 15, 2026, a cloture vote to move the bill forward failed 49-50.

Cloture is the procedural step the Senate uses to end debate and advance a bill toward a final vote. Losing it means the legislation stays parked.

Meanwhile, industry groups have spent tens of millions supporting pro-digital-asset candidates ahead of upcoming elections. Cuomo’s message suggests that how that money gets distributed matters as much as how much of it there is.

Cuomo’s own crypto credentials

Cuomo is not commenting from the sidelines. He joined the board of crypto exchange OKX in July 2026.

He also co-chairs a joint venture with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). That venture focuses on tokenized assets and upgrading trading infrastructure.

ICE is the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, so the venture places Cuomo at the intersection of Wall Street plumbing and blockchain-based markets.

As governor, Cuomo signed New York’s BitLicense law in 2015, which created one of the most significant state-level regulatory frameworks for crypto.

What this means for crypto

For investors, the core issue is regulatory risk. Without a federal law, the rules governing tokens, exchanges and custody can shift depending on who runs the SEC and the CFTC.

A bipartisan CLARITY Act could change that calculus. Clear jurisdiction between the two regulators would tell exchanges which licenses they need and tell token issuers which disclosure rules apply.

The 49-50 cloture result shows how thin the margins are. Winning over even a handful of skeptical senators could be the difference between another stalled vote and a bill that reaches the floor.

For OKX and the ICE venture Cuomo co-chairs, a durable framework would also matter commercially. Both are building businesses that depend on predictable rules for trading and tokenization.

The SEC-CFTC split involves real disagreements about investor protection and regulatory reach. Spreading campaign support more evenly may open doors, but it will not settle those policy questions on its own.