Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo is joining a joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the NYSE. Cuomo will co‑chair the new entity alongside ICE senior VP Trabue Bland, positioning the partnership to blend digital assets with traditional markets. Cuomo, who advised OKX since 2023, brings political clout to a firm that operates in over 100 countries.

Pending regulator sign‑off, the venture will launch a broker‑dealer and futures‑commission‑merchant, giving OKX a U.S. foothold and letting overseas clients trade ICE futures and NYSE tokenized equities. ICE invested $200 million for a stake valuing OKX at $25 billion, cementing the crypto‑Wall Street bridge. The model also lets ICE list tokenized NYSE stocks, a capability the exchange started developing earlier this year.

Cuomo, who advised OKX during a federal probe that led to a $504 million penalty, frames his involvement as a balance between innovation and safety. By pairing a former governor with ICE’s market infrastructure, the partnership aims to unlock tokenized securities for U.S. investors while navigating compliance hurdles. The joint venture now seeks final approval to begin operations.