Andrew Cuomo has a new gig: remaking the financial services industry at the behest of one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
Last week, Cuomo was named as the co-chair of a new joint venture between Intercontinental Exchange, which is the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, and OKX, the cryptocurrency platform with 120 million customers that was recently valued at $25 billion.
"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 in a press release, using the Intercontinental Exchange's somewhat unfortunate stock ticker symbol (ICE). "I am personally excited by the prospect of the societal impact that blockchain technology can lead to: the democratization of finance, bringing basic financial services to underserved populations."
Cuomo's job announcement, which is full of this kind of near-inscrutable, benign-sounding, crypto-tinged tech jargon, raises numerous questions. What does any of this actually mean? Why would a business bent on fintech disruption that features esoteric, controversial, and widely distrusted investment vehicles tap a 68-year-old gearhead to lead it? And can a former governor, state attorney general, and head of a federal agency lead a business venture that is seeking federal and state regulatory approvals without running afoul of ethics laws?