I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, now on OKX's board, advocates for crypto as essential financial infrastructure rather than just tokens. He supports the ICE-OKX partnership and urges U.S. lawmakers to pass the CLARITY Act to prevent regulatory lag. Cuomo emphasizes blockchain's role in efficient transactions and tokenization, arguing that regulation is necessary to curb fraud while embracing inevitable technological progress.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, speaking on Fox Business on July 20, discussed his role on the board of OKX, following the crypto exchange’s joint venture with NYSE’s parent company Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE).
“The biggest misconception was that crypto was seen as tokens, memes,” Cuomo said. “The real contribution of crypto is not that. It is the financial infrastructure, the technology that they developed.”
He described blockchain technology as “the rails of the future for financial markets,” saying it can enable faster, cheaper and more efficient financial transactions.
While Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) are public blockchains, SOL is known for extremely high transaction speeds and very low fees. It is a top favorite of high-performance DeFi, tokenized real-world assets, and meme coins.
Cuomo added that the convergence of traditional finance and crypto was long overdue, calling the partnership between ICE and OKX “a marriage that should have happened a long time ago.”
He added that tokenization allows investors to own fractions of assets through digital representations, making markets more accessible while enabling near-instant settlement.
Crypto Regulation
Addressing crypto regulation, Cuomo acknowledged that the industry initially suffered from bad actors due to a lack of oversight.
“There wasn’t enough regulation. When there’s no regulation, people will create frauds and play outside the lines,” he said.
Cuomo also urged U.S. lawmakers to approve the CLARITY Act, saying the country risks falling behind other jurisdictions.
“The U.S. should pass the CLARITY Act. The rest of the world is already ahead of us,” he said.
Reflecting on his tenure as New York governor, Cuomo noted that New York became one of the first U.S. states to establish a regulatory framework for crypto because he viewed the technology as inevitable.
“You don’t put technology back in the box. You can’t stop time and you can’t stop technology. It will be the future,” he said.
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