Cuomo Warns Crypto Rules Need Congress After CLARITY Setback

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is pressing Congress to establish a durable federal framework for digital assets after the CLARITY Act failed to clear a key Senate procedural hurdle. Cuomo argues that agency-led crypto rules remain more vulnerable to future policy changes than legislation enacted by Congress. In a September 29 Bloomberg Crypto interview, titled When Clarity Fails, Ambiguity Wins: Cuomo, he summarized the distinction by saying that “regulation is not legislation” while discussing the bill, recent regulatory actions and the November midterm elections.

Cuomo now serves on OKX’s board and co-chairs a joint venture between the crypto exchange and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange. His current roles give him a direct commercial interest in clearer rules for tokenized and digital financial markets. Cuomo has separately argued that U.S. regulatory uncertainty makes long-term investment planning more difficult and that Europe has moved further toward a common digital-asset framework.

CLARITY Act Remains Stalled After Senate Vote

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act passed the House in July 2025 by 294-134, with support from Republicans and 78 Democrats. But on September 15, 2026, the Senate voted 49-50 against invoking cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633. That vote prevented the Senate from moving into formal consideration of the bill but did not constitute a vote against final passage itself.

The setback leaves unresolved disputes over market structure, ethics, banking and other provisions that have complicated efforts to build a durable coalition. Concerns that the legislation could face an extended delay have already prompted warnings that CLARITY could remain stalled well beyond the current Congress. Cuomo’s argument is that continued delay leaves more of the regulatory architecture dependent on administrative decisions rather than statutory authority.

That distinction does not mean a new congressional majority could simply erase existing agency actions. Congress can enact legislation changing the governing framework, while regulators can revise rules and interpretations through applicable administrative procedures. The practical issue is durability: statutes generally create a more permanent legal baseline than guidance, exemptions or regulations developed under an existing administration. The SEC and CFTC have already used their current authorities to clarify aspects of digital-asset regulation while Congress continues debating broader market structure.

Regulators Keep Moving Without New Legislation

The CFTC has continued developing crypto policy under its existing mandate, including recent guidance covering tokenized permitted investments and blockchain-based regulatory records. That administrative path has become more important since the Senate vote, with the CFTC advancing crypto rules while CLARITY remains stalled. Agency action can address specific regulatory gaps, but it does not reproduce the comprehensive jurisdictional framework Congress could establish through legislation.

Some industry participants argue that this distinction may affect regulatory certainty more than the underlying development of digital assets. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan has maintained that crypto infrastructure could continue expanding even without immediate CLARITY passage, pointing to tokenization, investment products and institutional infrastructure. That is an industry assessment about market momentum, not evidence that congressional legislation has become unnecessary.

Cuomo has similarly framed the issue around permanence rather than an immediate halt to crypto activity. His latest comments follow earlier remarks at the August SALT Wyoming conference, where he urged lawmakers to pass CLARITY and argued that the United States was trailing other jurisdictions in regulatory development. The next concrete milestone is whether senators revive H.R. 3633 for another procedural attempt or leave broader market-structure policy to regulators and a future Congress.