Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the crypto industry needs a more balanced political strategy if it wants federal crypto legislation to pass, warning that heavy support for Republicans has pushed away Democrats whose votes are also required.
Cuomo made the remarks on Tuesday during a Token2049 panel with OKX CEO Star Xu. He said the industry had "believed in investing heavily in the Republican Party" as a route to getting the CLARITY Act passed.
That approach, he said, has come at a cost. "When you invest heavily in the Republican Party, by definition, you’re going to alienate Democrats," Cuomo said.
Crypto PAC money has favored Republicans
Figures tracked by Tech Influence Watch show crypto-focused political action committees have spent $54.3 million supporting Republicans in the 2026 election cycle, compared with $26.2 million supporting Democrats. The tracker’s latest figures, checked on Thursday, also show another $23.2 million spent opposing Democrats.
Cuomo tied that imbalance to the practical math of passing legislation in Congress. As of Thursday, a Kalshi prediction market put the probability of Democrats winning both chambers of Congress at about 61%.
According to Cuomo, a Democratic-controlled Congress could go in one of two directions: it could try to roll back agencies’ crypto initiatives, or it could work with the Trump administration to pass the full CLARITY Act.
"You need Democrats to pass the bill. You need Republicans. You have to be more balanced," he said.
Cuomo rejects the idea that Democrats are anti-crypto
Cuomo also challenged the view that Democrats are inherently opposed to crypto technology.
"There’s a sense that Democrats are anti-crypto," he said.
He added: "As a matter of fact, I could argue that the crypto technology is exactly suited to the Democratic Party. It’s empowering people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to financial products, and the Democratic Party has been working to do that all its life."
Major crypto bills have drawn support from both parties
Cuomo’s comments came against a backdrop of mixed but real bipartisan support for crypto legislation. Republicans have been more unified behind major bills, but Democrats have not been absent from the process.
In July 2025, 78 House Democrats joined 216 Republicans to pass the CLARITY Act, while 134 Democrats voted against it. Separately, 18 Democratic senators backed the GENIUS Act, which passed the Senate in June 2025.
That support later became more complicated. In a September procedural vote, all Senate Democrats and four Republicans voted against advancing the CLARITY Act. At the time, many of the concerns were tied to potential conflicts of interest involving Trump’s crypto businesses, according to the report.
After that vote, seven Democratic senators issued a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to passing the CLARITY Act.
Fairshake backs candidates from both parties
Fairshake, a crypto-focused PAC, said on Monday that it would support 32 House candidates in November’s midterm elections. That group includes 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats.
Cuomo’s argument was straightforward: if the industry wants durable federal crypto legislation, it cannot rely on one party alone. The votes still have to come from both sides of the aisle.