Opinion by Andrew M. Cuomo, former governor of New York
The digital asset revolution has arrived, and it is already reshaping the financial system. The question is no longer whether the technology will continue to advance — it will. The real question is whether the United States will put clear, durable rules in place that allow that development to happen on American soil. At present, the answer is no.

The CLARITY Act was designed to fix exactly that. The legislation would have created a national framework for digital assets, defined the respective roles of federal regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and themodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and given businesses, investors and consumers a clear picture of the rules of the road.

The House passed the CLARITY Act in 2025, but Congress has still not sent a bill to the president. In September, the Senate failed to advance the Act, leaving most observers asking a simple question: what happens now? Advancing most legislation in the Senate requires a 60-vote supermajority, a procedural bar that makes bipartisan support a practical necessity for any market structure bill.

So far, the answer has come from the regulators themselves. The SEC and CFTC have moved aggressively to fill the vacuum left by Congress, promulgating new rules that significantly restructure the market. Their proposals include a new federal framework for crypto trading platforms and a bespoke regulatory regime for certain crypto assets.

In the short term, this is welcome news, and many new market opportunities should follow. But these rules were adopted in the absence of a market structure law enacted by Congress. They rest on the agencies' existing statutory authority and therefore lack the durability of legislation. More pointedly, from the Democrats' perspective, they were adopted over congressional opposition — which makes the rules politically vulnerable from day one. And hell hath no fury like a Congress scorned.

Related: Is there any chance left to save the CLARITY Act?

The next election could upend the rules

If prediction markets and current electoral trends are any guide, Democrats will control one, and possibly both, chambers of Congress after the November 2026 midterms, when every House seat and roughly one-third of the Senate will be on the ballot. The power of Congress to derail and disrupt agency action should never be underestimated. Per Kalshi, a US-regulated platform where users trade contracts on real-world outcomes, Democrats have a 64% chance of controlling the Senate.

I have lived this dynamic firsthand. Serving in the Clinton administration at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), I watched the 1994 midterm elections sweep Republicans into control of both the House and the Senate for the first time in 40 years. The department's power was greatly impeded: oversight intensified, funding became leverage, and Congress deployed every tool at its disposal to challenge and constrain the administration. That is what Congress does when it believes the executive branch has gone too far.

Democrats, for their part, will be looking to prove their claims that the Trump administration was corrupt and that agency actions were designed to benefit individuals personally and political donors collectively. Whether those claims are fair or not, they will drive the politics — and the politics will drive the oversight.

The legislature has many tools at its disposal. Agencies must submit new rules and regulations before they take effect, giving lawmakers a chance to weigh in. Lawmakers can limit funding for agency programs, pass legislation overriding agency actions, or use the Congressional Review Act — a 1996 law that lets Congress disapprove recently finalized agency regulations — to repeal certain regulations. Congress can also investigate and issue subpoenas — powers that can wreak havoc when coupled with public hearings. Just ask Anthony Fauci and Jack Smith!

Related: Crypto PAC announces support for 32 House candidates in US midterms

Congress must put politics aside

The overarching challenge is that private-sector technological innovation must be reconciled and aligned with intelligent government regulation. When the CLARITY Act failed, ambiguity prevailed — and ambiguity is bad for business, bad for investors, bad for consumers and bad for America.

Companies should not have to guess whether the rules in place today will survive the next election. They should not have to decide whether to build and invest in the United States based on which party controls Washington. They should know what is legal, what is prohibited, who regulates what and how the rules will be enforced.

America deserves a system that encourages innovation while protecting consumers and investors. It deserves rules that prevent illicit activity and protect market integrity. It deserves a framework that companies can rely on when they choose where to hire, invest and build.

Other countries understand this. They are establishing their own frameworks — Europe's Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, fully in force across the European Union since the end of 2024, and Singapore's Payment Services Act, in effect since 2020, among them — providing regulatory certainty and setting standards. The United States cannot afford to let political gridlock determine the future of financial innovation.

It is essential that a top priority for the next Congress is to put politics aside — even for a moment — and pass bipartisan legislation authorizing digital asset activities, so companies can invest safely and intelligently in the US. Until then, the agencies' interim rules — and the oversight choices the next Congress makes about them — will shape the environment in which American digital asset businesses operate.

About the author: Andrew M. Cuomo served as governor of New York from 2011 to 2021 and previously served as New York attorney general and US secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He currently serves on the board of OKX and co-chairs OKXICE, a joint venture between OKX and Intercontinental Exchange focused on tokenized and digitally native financial products.

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