Andrew M. Cuomo, former New York governor and current OKX board member, contends that recent federal agency actions on digital assets are politically vulnerable due to the absence of a statutory framework. While the House passed the CLARITY Act in 2025, the Senate failed to advance it in September, leaving Congress without a sent bill for presidential signature. In this legislative void, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have issued aggressive new rules restructuring the market, including frameworks for trading platforms and specific asset regimes.
Cuomo highlights that these agency-led measures rely on existing statutory authority rather than new laws, making them susceptible to disruption by a future Congress. He cites prediction markets indicating a 64% chance of Democratic Senate control after midterms, suggesting increased oversight could target Trump-era agency actions. Drawing from his experience at the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the 1994 Republican wave, Cuomo warns that Congress can utilize funding limits, the Congressional Review Act, and subpoenas to constrain executive branch regulations, thereby creating uncertainty for businesses investing in US infrastructure.
The core tension lies in the mismatch between rapid regulatory implementation by agencies and the slow pace of legislative consensus. By filling the vacuum left by the stalled CLARITY Act, the SEC and CFTC have created a de facto national framework, but one rooted in administrative discretion rather than codified law. This approach prioritizes immediate market structure clarity over long-term institutional stability, exposing firms to significant operational risk if political winds shift. The reliance on agency authority means that compliance costs incurred today may not be protected against future legislative overrides or funding restrictions, undermining the predictability required for sustained capital investment.
From an institutional adoption perspective, the durability of US crypto regulation is contingent on bipartisan legislative action rather than executive enforcement alone. Cuomo’s reference to international standards like Europe’s MiCA and Singapore’s Payment Services Act underscores a competitive disadvantage: jurisdictions with statutory certainty attract more stable inflows than those where rules hinge on electoral outcomes. If Democrats regain congressional control, the potential use of the Congressional Review Act or intensified oversight hearings could unravel recent regulatory progress, forcing companies to hedge against policy reversals. This scenario suggests that until Congress passes a durable market structure law, US crypto infrastructure will remain fragmented and politically exposed, potentially driving innovation toward jurisdictions with less volatile regulatory environments.
