Cuomo Urges CLARITY Act Passage Before Senate’s Sept. 15 Vote

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told the SALT conference in Jackson Hole on Tuesday that Congress must pass the CLARITY Act to give digital-asset firms a single set of federal rules. “It can pass because it has to pass because we’re already way behind,” he said. The Senate’s first procedural vote is set for Sept. 15, the day after lawmakers return from recess. The bill would say when a token is a security or a commodity and split oversight between the SEC and the CFTC. Cuomo now co-chairs a joint venture between OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange.

Cuomo Makes the Case at SALT

Cuomo argued that companies cannot design products if they do not know which agency will police them. “You have to know the rules of the game if you want a company to comply,” he said. “What’s fair and what’s foul?” He pointed to the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regime, which already applies across the bloc.

The House passed its version 294-134 in July 2025. The Senate Banking Committee approved a Senate draft 15-9 on May 14, 2026. Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on Aug. 8 after the chamber left Washington without a floor vote. The Sept. 15 action is cloture on the motion to proceed. It needs 60 votes and does not enact the bill.

Why Agency Rules Are Not Enough

Regulators can write crypto rules without a statute. Those rules can also be rewritten when administrations change.

• Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler brought dozens of cases alleging unregistered securities offerings and defended that record as a response to fraud.
• GSR Chief Legal and Strategy Officer Josh Riezman said the current SEC and CFTC are likely to advance new rules, then warned that a later administration could produce “a potentially Gensler 2.0 type scenario.”
• A CFTC spokesperson said congressional action is needed for “durable” rules and that the agency will still try to support U.S. market leadership if Congress does not act.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins issued a statement on Aug. 18 saying legislation remains “indispensable” if today’s work is not to be unwound later. CFTC Chair Michael Selig has already expanded derivatives access, including approval in May of a bitcoin perpetual futures contract on a registered U.S. exchange. Cuomo’s own venture, subject to licenses, aims to connect OKX customers to ICE futures and tokenized NYSE equities. That commercial stake is why his appearance was also a pitch for a statute that would last beyond one set of chairs.

Senate’s Sept. 15 Procedural Test

Republicans hold 53 Senate seats. Cloture therefore requires at least seven votes from Democrats or independents if the GOP caucus stays united. Three disputes still block that coalition:

Ethics language covering officials’ digital-asset interests remains unresolved. Sens. Ruben Gallego (D., Ariz.) and Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) sent a compromise to the White House and are waiting for a reply. Democrats have also sought tighter anti-money-laundering and fraud provisions. Banks and some Republicans continue to object to stablecoin rewards that they say could pull deposits from traditional accounts.

The Senate is in Washington only until early October, then leaves for the midterm campaign. TD Cowen’s Washington Research Group recently put the odds of enactment in the next few months at 25%.

Conclusion

A Sept. 15 cloture vote would only open debate. The bill would still need Senate passage, alignment with the House text and a presidential signature. Cuomo said statutes will not repair every problem. Scandals and illicit-finance cases have damaged trust, and the industry has to address that itself. What Congress can do is end the argument over which agency writes the rules. Until it does, firms will keep building under guidance that the next chair can reverse.