Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo has joined the board of crypto exchange OKX while the company remains under compliance oversight required by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
The appointment moves Cuomo from adviser to director as OKX expands into traditional finance and AI. It follows an investment by New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange, which valued OKX at $25bn. The exchange's DOJ-related compliance arrangement runs until February 2027.
Adviser moves into governance
OKX announced Cuomo's appointment on 20 Jul. He has advised the company on its US regulatory and institutional strategy since 2023.
Cuomo served as New York's attorney general and US housing secretary before serving as the state's governor from 2011 to 2021. OKX said the appointment formalized a relationship that had already shaped its approach to the US market.
That relationship developed while the exchange faced a federal investigation. OKX pleaded guilty in February 2025 to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and violating US anti-money laundering laws.
The company agreed to forfeit $420.3mn and pay an $84.4mn fine. It must retain an external compliance consultant through February 2027 and continue cooperating with federal prosecutors.
Cuomo joins the board before that oversight period ends. He will take part in the governance of a company that is still implementing the compliance measures required by its criminal settlement.
He is also co-chair of the joint venture formed by OKX and ICE in June.
Growth tests the compliance reset
ICE took a minority stake in OKX in March and secured a board seat. The agreement covered regulated crypto futures, tokenized equities, market data and institutional infrastructure.
The companies later formed a 50-50 venture intended to connect ICE's exchange and data systems with OKX's onchain and self-custody technology, of which Cuomo was named co-chair. It plans to develop infrastructure for tokenized products and institutional digital asset markets.
OKX is also expanding through AI. It unveiled OKX AI in June as a marketplace where autonomous agents can offer services, hire other agents and settle payments in stablecoins.
The platform combines onchain identities, wallets, payment tools and reputation records. OKX is positioning it as infrastructure for software agents that can transact without direct human involvement.
Cuomo's appointment ties those expansion plans to the exchange's regulatory reset. OKX is seeking a larger role in financial infrastructure while demonstrating that the failures that led to its US criminal case have been addressed.
