Cuomo Returns to Finance Like It's 2008, But This Time It's Blockchain

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will co-chair a joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, the two U.S. companies announced Monday, aiming to build infrastructure that bridges traditional and digital financial markets. The venture, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to 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. Cuomo, New York's 56th governor, will lead the project alongside ICE.

"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 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." Cuomo also said he is "personally excited by the prospect of the societal impact that blockchain technology can lead to: the democratization of finance, bringing basic financial services to underserved populations."

The joint venture follows a March partnership between ICE and OKX to introduce tokenized stocks and crypto futures products, alongside a strategic investment by ICE in the San Jose, California-based crypto exchange at a $25 billion valuation. ICE has separately backed digital asset firm Bakkt (BKKT) and committed $2 billion to prediction market platform Polymarket, which was valued at up to $10 billion as part of the deal. Cuomo, who lost his 2025 bid to become New York City mayor to Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, began working with OKX in 2023.