Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said U.S. lawmakers need to push the Clarity Act across the line, arguing that the crypto industry still needs firm regulatory boundaries in the United States.
Cuomo, a Democrat who also serves as a director of crypto exchange OKX, said on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Thursday that Democrats and Republicans are mainly stuck on the ethics language in the bill.
Several lawmakers want the Clarity Act passed before Congress leaves for its August recess. The measure passed the House of Representatives last year, but sticking points remain.
Cuomo calls for clear rules
“We need clarity,” Cuomo said. “Tell me the rules — I want to play the game fairly, but you have to tell me the boundaries, and that’s what the Clarity Act is all about.”
In a social media post published on August 6, 2026, Bitcoin Magazine said Cuomo believes the Senate will resolve the ethics issues in the Clarity Act and pass the bill. The post quoted him as saying, “We need Clarity the world is passing us by” and called for lawmakers to “Pass it.”
Ethics language remains the core dispute
Cuomo said Democrats want to raise the issue of the Trump family making money in crypto during the campaign, and that this is why ethics questions keep coming back into the discussion.
A new draft of the Clarity Act has started circulating with language aimed at that issue. The draft would ban government officials from promoting crypto or making money from it.
Some Democrats have criticized President Trump’s crypto business interests, with some alleging conflicts of interest because his family has made money from meme coins and the decentralized finance protocol World Liberty Financial. The White House has consistently said there have been no conflicts of interest.
New bipartisan language has been drafted to revise the ethics section of the bill, and the White House is reportedly reviewing it this week.
Cuomo says the U.S. is falling behind
Cuomo also said Democrats should be careful when raising conflict-of-interest claims. “I think Democrats have to be a little careful because you want to talk about conflicts of interest, meanwhile you have Democrats who are buying stocks and they have inside information also,” he said.
He added a broader warning: “And again, the world is passing us by.”
Pointing to OKX’s business in Europe, Cuomo said the exchange is “doing gangbusters” there while regulators in that region are moving ahead and the technology is developing. “When you pass the regulations, and you allow innovation to develop, it takes off, and that’s what’s happening around the world, and it’s not happening here in the U.S. because of the Clarity Act,” he said.
The article first appeared in Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Mathew Di Salvo.