Tokenized Stocks Bring 'Radical Change' to Markets, Cuomo Says — WSJ

By Vicky Ge HuangFormer New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo isn't the typical face of digital finance, but he has emerged as an unlikely champion for the next frontier in U.S. markets: tokenized stocks.That transformation didn't happen by chance.More than a decade ago, Cuomo's administration oversaw the rollout of the BitLicense, a regulatory framework for digital-currency businesses to register in the state. Though criticized by crypto advocates for being overly stringent and driving businesses out of the state, it established the country's first state-level framework for crypto regulation.After a bruising defeat in New York City's mayoral race last year, Cuomo resurfaced in June as the co-chair of OKXICE, a 50-50 joint venture between New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange and crypto exchange OKX. On Monday, OKXICE became one of the first ventures to file with U.S. regulators to launch a 24/7 tokenized stock trading platform.Cuomo has worked with OKX since 2023, when he began advising the China-founded crypto company on U.S. strategy and regulation. The advisory work continues. In 2025, OKX agreed to pay more than half a billion dollars to resolve a federal investigation.In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Cuomo discussed why corporate America might object to their stocks being tokenized, the failure of the Clarity Act — a sweeping measure to regulate the crypto markets — to advance in the Senate and whether he will run for office again.WSJ: It has been over three months since you became co-chair of OKXICE. How has the company progressed in that time?Cuomo: Three months ago, we started this joint venture with ICE, which at the time sounded so ambitious: "We're going to tokenize U.S. securities." Everyone's talking about "tokenize this, tokenize that, tokenizing securities." That's the pinnacle of tokenization, right? Because you are talking about American equities. If you could sell American securities 24/7 globally, wow, that is really a transformational game-changer. That can bring billions into the American economy.Three months ago, it was, "Oh, do you think this could ever really happen?" Then the Clarity Act fails. The SEC came up with this innovation exemption, which allows just that, and we were one of the first to file notice with the SEC that we intend to launch it.There is then a 30-day period where companies can opt out, and the SEC is doing this on a limited basis. There are limits set on how many stocks and what the volume is, but it is the first step toward tokenizing securities, so that it should happen so quickly, it is very exciting to me.WSJ: How will you handle situations where companies don't want their shares tokenized, as Cerebras Systems recently declared?Cuomo: Make no mistake. You're talking about radical change to the traditional finance system, and change always brings disruption. Under tokenized securities, there are functions that are no longer needed. There are aspects of the traditional trading markets that are no longer needed.And yes, there's going to be questions. There is going to be skepticism. There is going to be caution exercised, which is sort of built into the SEC's innovation exemption. Even what they call it, this is an innovation, so we'll exempt it. But it's an innovation, and we'll do it on a limited basis, and I think that is intelligent, actually, because it is new.Let's see how it works, and let's do it on a basis that we can make alterations, we can make modifications. We see what works. We see what doesn't work. I would expect you'll have a lot of companies who will say, "I'm going to sit back and watch." I think that is to be expected for any major change.WSJ: The Clarity Act failed to advance in the Senate last month. What was your reaction to the bill's failure?Cuomo: When the Clarity Act fails, ambiguity prevails. There is a void. The federal agencies then move to fill the void with administrative action. The SEC is taking an administrative action in this innovation exemption. CFTC is taking administrative actions to fill the void of the Clarity Act and to try to provide rules and regulations.The next shoe to drop, in my opinion, is the midterms. I think the Democrats are successful in one, if not both Houses. "Well, you're a Democrat." Yes, I am. But if you look at the prediction markets, they all predict Democrats will win the House, maybe even the Senate. Now the Congress comes in. The Democrats are in the Congress. They're then going to weigh in and have great authority over what these agencies have done in terms of administrative action, because an agency regulation does not trump legislation.I hope the new Congress actually gets together for a moment of sanity and responsibility, and passes a Clarity Act. Because companies can't operate like this, and you'll see companies go to jurisdictions where they know the rules and regulations.WSJ: Do you think you'll ever run for office again at some point?Cuomo: I don't say no to any option. But I know that I'm happy doing what I'm doing now, and I think there's a public good in this too. I think improving the financial system, empowering citizens, protecting consumers, using this new technology to do just that — that is a public good.WSJ: Where do you expect OKXICE to be in five years?Cuomo: It's no longer just a crypto company. It's a financial-technology company, meaning there will be a platform where you conduct all your financial business, aided by AI, and you can trade stock, you can make payments, you can consult with AI on market trends, but it would be a platform to do all financial transactions. I think that is the long-term future.This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.Write to Vicky Ge Huang at [email protected]