‘It has to pass’: Andrew Cuomo warns U.S. is falling behind on crypto rules

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged Congress to pass the Clarity Act, saying the U.S. is already falling behind other countries in setting rules for crypto.

“It can pass because it has to pass because we’re already way behind,” Cuomo said Tuesday at the SALT conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The Clarity Act would set federal rules for the crypto market and spell out which regulators oversee different types of digital assets. Those rules could help crypto exchanges, token issuers and traditional financial firms determine which laws apply to their products.

A tight timeline

The Senate broke for its August recess without voting on the Clarity Act, though Majority Leader John Thune scheduled the first procedural vote for immediately after it returns next month.

Senate Democrats have said they want a stronger ethics provision before they'll support the bill, and Senators Ruben Gallego and Thom Tillis are currently waiting for the White House to respond to their proposed ethics language. Other outstanding issues include law enforcement provisions and stablecoin rewards.

Cuomo said years of uncertainty have made it harder for companies to build products in the U.S. while knowing where regulators will draw the line. “You have to know the rules of the game if you want a company to comply,” he said. “What’s fair and what’s foul?”

He contrasted the U.S. with Europe, where the European Union has implemented a bloc-wide crypto framework. Without federal legislation, Cuomo said, the U.S. risks losing business and investment to markets where the rules are clearer.

Getting a bill through Congress will require compromise, he said. Cuomo pushed back on attempts to blame either Democrats or Republicans for the holdup and said disagreements over ethics provisions and other parts of the bill should not sink it.

If Congress doesn't act, regulators will be left to fill the gap, Cuomo said. That could mean rules change each time political power shifts in Washington, making long-term planning harder for crypto and financial firms.

Cuomo has a direct stake in how those rules develop. He is leading a joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange. The venture is building infrastructure to connect crypto with traditional financial markets.