Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo warned that the crypto industry's regulatory wins could be wiped out if Democrats win control of Congress in November, because agency rules are far easier to reverse than a signed law. Cuomo, who sits on the board of crypto exchange OKX and co-chairs its joint venture with Intercontinental Exchange, made the argument after the Senate blocked the Clarity Act on Sept. 15, falling one vote short of the 60 needed to advance.
The bill would have set federal rules for crypto markets. It failed 49-50, with four Republicans joining Democrats in opposition. Democrats had pushed for tougher ethics limits on officials who profit from crypto ventures, including President Donald Trump's family.
Rules can be unwound. Statutes can't.
Cuomo's core point is structural. Rules written by agencies can be rewritten by the next administration, which makes them a weak foundation for an industry that wants predictability. "Regulation is not legislation," he said, arguing that a new Congress will scrutinize agency rulemaking in a way that could undo gains the industry has already banked.
His own history is a case study. Cuomo oversaw the 2015 launch of New York's BitLicense, then later conceded it became too stringent for some companies. That's the arc he's warning about now — a framework that starts as an industry accommodation and hardens into something companies struggle to live with.
Why the Clarity Act died
Cuomo doesn't buy the idea that the bill collapsed over irreconcilable policy differences. Election-year politics killed it, he said, with members unwilling to take a tough vote ahead of November.
The path back isn't closed. Sen. Thom Tillis filed a motion that lets the bill return for another vote, according to NPR. Cuomo wants the lame-duck session to pass it, or at least put it on desks by Jan. 1. If Democrats flip either chamber, NPR reports, passage gets harder.
The industry's own failure
Cuomo saved some of his sharpest criticism for crypto itself. Tens of millions of Americans use crypto, he said, but nobody organized them behind the bill. Political donations alone can't pass legislation. That's a pointed jab at an industry that has spent heavily on campaigns while struggling to convert that spending into floor votes.
What's already moving without Congress
The SEC granted a five-year exemption on Sept. 17 covering tokenized versions of listed stocks, a reminder that agencies are still shaping crypto markets while the legislative track stalls. That exemption is exactly the kind of action Cuomo says is vulnerable, because it rests on an agency interpretation rather than a statute.
The near-term question is whether the Senate takes up the Tillis motion before the session ends. Tillis's motion is the only live procedural path on the table, and the calendar is short.
