ICE, OKX tap Andrew Cuomo to lead joint crypto venture

• Key insight: The partnership reflects Wall Street's continued embrace of blockchain-based markets and crypto platforms' creep into traditional financial infrastructure.
• What's at stake: OKX's 120 million customers across the world would gain access to ICE futures and NYSE-listed equities through the venture.
• Forward look: The companies are still waiting on regulatory approval to operate as a U.S. registered broker dealer.

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will lead a joint venture between the Intercontinental Exchange and crypto trading platform OKX, the companies announced on Monday. 

Pending regulatory approval, the partnership will aim to build "24/7 trading infrastructure" needed for tokenizing financial products on chain, according to a press release. OKX's 120 million customers — both domestic and overseas — will gain access to ICE futures and the tokenized equities markets of its subsidiary, the New York Stock Exchange.

The companies expect the venture to operate as a U.S. registered broker dealer, with plans to explore "adjacent opportunities" to build blockchain-powered markets.

"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 said, adding that he is "personally excited" by blockchain technology's ability to democratize finance. 

During Cuomo's gubernatorial tenure, he oversaw the creation of the Department of Financial Services, a Wall Street and crypto regulator. He resigned from the governor's office in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations, which he has denied.

The former governor's involvement in crypto first surfaced during his failed New York City mayoral campaign last year, when opponent Zohran Mamdani highlighted his paid advisory work for OKX — work that began in 2023 while the crypto exchange was under federal investigation by the FBI and prosecutors from the Southern District of New York. 

OKX ultimately pled guilty in 2025 to violating anti-money-laundering laws and agreed to pay more than $500 million in penalties for operating in the U.S. without a license. Since settling, OKX has relaunched in the U.S., with ICE investing roughly $200 million in the platform at a $25 billion valuation this March. 

Trabue Bland, ICE's senior vice president of futures exchanges, will co-chair the venture alongside Cuomo. Bland said that the venture is a "step towards building the infrastructure that will define how global markets operate in the decades ahead."

The NYSE and Depository Trust & Clearing Corp announced in January that they were building blockchain-based platforms to allow 24/7 trading. The NYSE's platform would let investors trade U.S. stocks and ETFs at any hour, settle transactions instantly and use stablecoins for funding. The SEC additionally green-lit DTCC's efforts to tokenize real-world assets on approved blockchains for a three-year trial period in December 2025. 

Other major exchanges like Nasdaq and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have made similar moves as crypto platforms increasingly compete with traditional financial institutions.

Cuomo's post-politics pivot into cryptocurrency reflects a broader political shift. Members of both major parties have increasingly embraced digital assets during President Donald Trump's second term. 

Under the current federal administration, crypto companies have made inroads into traditional finance. In March, Kraken gained access to the Federal Reserve's payment infrastructure. Congress also passed the GENIUS Act to regulate stablecoins, and is currently negotiating the CLARITY Act, a broader cryptocurrency market structure bill that has faced pushback from banks.