Cuomo Goes Long on TradFi-Crypto: 120M OKX Users Get NYSE Keys to the 24/7 Kingdom 🏛️

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will co-chair a new joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, to build infrastructure connecting traditional and digital financial markets, the two U.S. companies announced Monday. Subject to regulatory approval, the venture would operate as a U.S.-registered broker-dealer and futures commission merchant, giving OKX's 120 million global users access to ICE futures and NYSE tokenized equities markets.

"The ICE-OKX joint venture is a step towards building the infrastructure that will define how global markets operate in the decades ahead," said Trabue Bland, senior vice president at ICE, in a statement Monday morning. The initiative is also expected to explore adjacent opportunities for regulatory-compliant, blockchain-enabled markets, the statement added.

Cuomo, who served as New York's 56th governor, New York State Attorney General, and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, began working with OKX in 2023. "The next chapter of financial markets will be defined by how well innovation and government regulation can move forward together," Cuomo said. "This partnership brings together OKX's world-class blockchain technology and ICE's trusted market infrastructure to help build a more modern, transparent, and resilient financial system for the future."

The joint venture follows a March partnership between ICE and OKX to introduce tokenized stocks and crypto futures products, alongside ICE's strategic investment in the San Jose, California-based exchange at a $25 billion valuation. ICE has deepened its digital-asset footprint through other moves as well, including long-time backing of digital asset firm Bakkt (BKKT) and a $2 billion investment in crypto-powered prediction market Polymarket, which valued the platform at up to $10 billion.

Cuomo has largely been out of the public eye since his unsuccessful 2025 bid for New York City mayor, in which he said he intended to make New York City the "global capital for cryptocurrency." He was endorsed by the crypto-aligned Innovate NY political action committee but lost to Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, who secured more than 50% of the vote. Since taking office on Jan. 1, Mamdani has not announced any significant policies related to crypto or blockchain, and he confirmed in January that he holds no digital assets as mayor.