Cuomo Pushes for Clarity Act on U.S. Crypto Rules

The Senate still has to vote on the bill, which defines regulators for exchanges, token issuers, and other digital assets. Cuomo points to Europe and tokenized securities as examples of greater clarity.

Key Takeaways

• Andrew Cuomo is calling on the U.S. Congress to quickly pass the Clarity Act for clearer crypto rules.
• According to Cuomo, the U.S. is falling behind Europe, where the European Union has already introduced a broad crypto framework.
• The bill is meant to spell out which regulator oversees digital assets and give exchanges, token issuers, and financial firms more clarity.

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo has urged the American Congress to quickly pass the Clarity Act. In his view, the U.S. is already lagging behind other countries when it comes to setting crypto rules, while the market is looking for clarity around oversight and compliance.

Pressure on the Senate

Cuomo said Tuesday at the SALT conference in Jackson Hole that the bill needs to pass because waiting only makes the gap bigger. The Senate went into recess in August without voting on the Clarity Act, although Majority Leader John Thune has scheduled the first procedural vote for right after lawmakers return next month.

At the federal level, the bill is supposed to lay out which regulator oversees which types of digital assets. In practice, that should give crypto exchanges, token issuers, and traditional financial firms more clarity on which rules apply to their products.

Europe as a Reference Point

Cuomo contrasted the U.S. situation with Europe, where the European Union has already introduced a broad crypto framework. Without federal legislation, he said, the U.S. risks losing businesses and investment to markets where the rules are clearer.

He also pointed out that years of uncertainty have made it harder for companies to build products in the U.S. without knowing where regulators draw the line. According to Cuomo, that is exactly the problem: companies can only comply properly if the rules are clear ahead of time.

Tokenized Stocks in Focus

The debate hits Cuomo directly too. He leads a joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, that is building infrastructure to connect crypto with traditional financial markets. A major focus there is tokenized securities, where, for example, U.S. stocks are placed on blockchain-based systems.

Other parties are also pushing for clearer rules for tokenized stocks in the U.S. That debate includes the question of how blockchain-based securities should be integrated into existing market structures.

Cuomo said such assets could eventually be available to investors around the world 24 hours a day. At the same time, he stressed that regulation is not the only obstacle for the sector. In his view, scandals and the industry’s ties to illegal financing have damaged trust, while trust and integrity are exactly what are needed to move forward.