Former New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has been appointed to the Board of Directors of cryptocurrency exchange OKX.

 

The appointment, announced in a recent OKX blog post, comes three years after Cuomo joined the exchange in 2023 as a member of its advisory team, where he advised the company on its regulatory and institutional strategy in the United States.

 

Image credit: x.com

 

"Governor Cuomo has been a thoughtful voice for OKX for years, and his move to the board formalizes a relationship that has already shaped how we approach the U.S. market," said Star Xu, Founder and CEO of OKX.

 

"As we build OKX into the infrastructure layer for both traditional and digital finance, we need people who understand how governments, institutions, and markets actually think. That's exactly what he brings."

 

Cuomo's appointment to the OKX Board comes as the exchange accelerates its expansion efforts. Last month, it signed a joint venture with Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, to build next-generation infrastructure for digital assets.

 

The infrastructure is intended to bridge the gap between traditional finance and the crypto market, giving more than 120 million registered OKX users access to ICE futures and tokenized NYSE-listed equities. Following the partnership, ICE reportedly invested $200 million in OKX, valuing the exchange at $25 billion.

 

Despite the regulatory challenges it has faced in the United States, including being barred from operating after violating anti-money laundering laws and being ordered to pay $504 million in penalties and forfeitures, OKX has continued to deepen its presence in the country following its relaunch a few months after the ban.

 

Since its relaunch, OKX has maintained compliance with U.S. laws by strengthening its anti-money laundering and know your customer systems while strategically appointing key executives, including former Barclays executive Roshan Robert as CEO of OKX U.S. and Andrew Cuomo as a board member and Co-Chair of the OKX ICE joint venture.