Former New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has joined the board of directors of cryptocurrency exchange OKX as the company expands its U.S. operations and strengthens its ties with traditional financial institutions.

OKX announced the appointment on July 20, saying Cuomo had already worked with the company since 2023. During that period, he advised the exchange on its regulatory and institutional strategy in the U.S.

Cuomo previously served as New York’s 56th governor, the state’s attorney general and U.S. secretary of housing and urban development. His board appointment formalizes an existing relationship with OKX rather than starting a new advisory role.

Cuomo moves from adviser to OKX board member

OKX founder and CEO Star Xu said Cuomo had already played a role in shaping the exchange’s approach to the U.S. market. The company did not provide details about any specific board committees or additional responsibilities tied to the appointment.

“His move to the board formalizes a relationship that has already shaped how we approach the U.S. market,” Xu said. 

OKX said Cuomo’s public-sector and regulatory experience would support the company as it develops services for both traditional and digital finance.

The appointment comes as OKX continues rebuilding and expanding its presence in the U.S. As crypto.news previously reported, the company relaunched its U.S. crypto exchange and self-custody wallet in April 2025 and established a regional headquarters in San Jose, California.

That relaunch followed a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over past compliance failures. OKX also appointed Roshan Robert to lead its U.S. business and said it had strengthened know-your-customer, fraud detection and other compliance systems.

ICE partnership expands OKX’s institutional strategy

Cuomo will also continue serving as co-chair of a joint venture between OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. The two companies announced the venture in June as part of a plan to connect traditional financial markets with blockchain-based products.

As crypto.news reported in June, the proposed platform could give OKX users access to ICE futures products and tokenized equity markets linked to the NYSE. The project remains subject to regulatory approval.

The companies plan to combine ICE’s exchange and market-data infrastructure with OKX’s onchain and self-custody technology. The structure is designed to support institutional access to tokenized financial products while linking established market infrastructure with digital asset systems.

The partnership followed an investment by ICE in OKX in March. According to OKX, the transaction valued the crypto company at $25 billion. The investment amount was not publicly disclosed in the earlier announcement covered by crypto.news.

OKX broadens its business beyond crypto trading

OKX has been adding products as it seeks a larger role in institutional and tokenized markets. The company said its licensing footprint now covers markets including the U.S., the European Economic Area, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Australia.

Its U.S. expansion is part of that broader strategy. The company returned to the market in 2025 with a centralized exchange and self-custody wallet after spending more than a year developing its compliance infrastructure, according to earlier reporting.

Meanwhile, the ICE partnership gives OKX another route into the growing market for tokenized traditional assets. The joint venture plans to work on products that connect blockchain infrastructure with established futures and equity markets, although the companies still need relevant approvals before launching the proposed services.

OKX has also launched an artificial intelligence marketplace where autonomous agents can find work, transact and build onchain reputations. The company cited that launch, its ICE partnership and its wider licensing activity as parts of its expansion during 2026.

Moreover, Cuomo’s appointment gives OKX a board member who has worked at both the state and federal levels of the U.S. government. He has also spent about three years advising the exchange directly on regulatory and institutional matters.

The move therefore connects two areas of OKX’s current strategy: its continued U.S. expansion and its effort to attract more institutional financial activity. The exchange has already returned to the U.S. market, while its partnership with ICE is targeting a separate route into tokenized assets and traditional market infrastructure.

The White House’s top crypto adviser Patrick Witt says he will not depart for required military training at the end of this month, allowing him to remain at the White House to help push the Senate to act on the CLARITY Act. Witt is the administration’s lead negotiator for the legislation and framed the update as a step to ensure he can “see this effort through to the end.”

His announcement comes with the CLARITY Act facing a tight procedural window: the bill must clear the US Senate before the Aug. 8 recess. Witt previously was reported to be scheduled to begin Judge Advocate General (JAG) training with the Georgia Army National Guard on July 27, a program intended to qualify him to serve as a legal officer in the Guard.

Key takeaways

• Patrick Witt said his end-of-month military training has been deferred, so he can continue CLARITY Act negotiations at the White House.
• The CLARITY Act’s push is time-sensitive, with a stated deadline to pass the Senate before the Aug. 8 recess.
• Witt had been expected to report for JAG training on July 27, but the schedule change reduces the risk of leadership disruption during Senate deliberations.
• Witt’s continued presence arrives as Harry Jung, a senior figure at the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, plans to leave government service.

Why Witt staying matters for the CLARITY Act push

Witt’s role is directly tied to the administration’s negotiation strategy for CLARITY. As the White House’s lead negotiator, he is positioned to coordinate between lawmakers and stakeholders on the bill’s regulatory design—particularly as the Senate approaches the recess timeframe that could determine whether the measure advances this session.

In a post on X on Monday, Witt responded to reports that he was set to leave for mandatory training “right before” CLARITY reaches the Senate floor. Witt said he remains committed to his service obligation, but noted that his training has been deferred.

That change is not a small administrative update: with a deadline to clear the Senate before Aug. 8, continuity in the White House’s negotiating team can matter when legislators are weighing amendments, committee outcomes, and floor timing. If key personnel were forced to step away during a critical stretch, it could shift the balance of negotiations at a moment when the bill’s prospects depend on Senate process.

What the earlier training reports suggested

Before Monday’s clarification, reporting indicated Witt was expected to begin JAG training with the Georgia Army National Guard on July 27. The training is described as part of his obligations and is intended to qualify him for legal officer duties within the Guard.

Earlier coverage had framed the expected departure as timing-sensitive, with the implication that Witt would be away from the White House during the period when the bill’s momentum could be decided. Witt’s latest statement effectively adjusts that timeline, removing the immediate risk that his absence would coincide with the Senate’s decisive window.

Separately, a report from Crypto In America said Witt had already deferred his mandatory training in April to remain at the White House to work on CLARITY negotiations that, according to the report, extended beyond initial expectations. Monday’s development is therefore described as the second deferral, underscoring how central the legislation has become to the administration’s priorities for his time and attention.

Senate deadline heightens the stakes

The CLARITY Act is positioned by the White House as an effort to establish the first comprehensive US regulatory framework for the crypto market. In the current legislative cycle, timing appears to be the central constraint: the bill must pass the Senate before the Aug. 8 recess to keep it moving on a path forward.

Witt’s statement that he can “see this effort through to the end” signals that the administration is treating the remaining weeks before the recess as a decisive phase. It also suggests the White House views the negotiation work as something that requires sustained coordination right up until the bill’s Senate endgame.

Whether additional Senate activity—such as amendments, procedural votes, or negotiations with members across factions—will further test the bill’s schedule remains to be seen. What is clear from Witt’s update is that at least one potential personnel bottleneck has been removed.

Leadership shake-up at the digital assets council

Witt’s continued stay at the White House is occurring alongside a leadership transition within the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets. Harry Jung, the council’s deputy director, announced that he plans to leave government service in about two weeks.

Jung wrote on X that he will depart with “immense gratitude,” stating that the past two years “transformed America’s position on crypto” and expressing pride in what the team accomplished. The announcement adds a new variable to the administration’s internal structure as CLARITY work continues.

According to Crypto In America, Jung had been slated to take over Witt’s responsibilities during Witt’s military leave, had that leave proceeded. With Witt now saying his training has been deferred, that handoff timeline may change—at least in the short term. However, Jung’s planned exit means the council will still face an adjustment period even if Witt remains in place.

For market participants, these kinds of transitions can be meaningful because regulatory bills often depend on consistent drafting, negotiation, and policy coordination. While the CLARITY Act’s legislative mechanics are ultimately determined by Congress, the administration’s negotiating capacity influences how quickly the bill’s terms can be refined and defended through the Senate process.

Readers should watch how the Senate timeline develops between now and the Aug. 8 recess, particularly for signs that additional amendments or procedural obstacles could alter the bill’s path. Witt’s deferred training reduces one risk to continuity, but Jung’s impending departure suggests the administration may still be working through staffing shifts as CLARITY approaches its critical phase.

The stablecoin law gave regulators exactly one year to write its rules. The year ended Saturday. The rules did not arrive, the January 2027 start date is not moving, and the $300 billion industry now gets to guess what compliance means.

There is a particular kind of Washington irony that only a statute can produce. The GENIUS Act was celebrated, correctly, as the first comprehensive federal crypto law in American history, and its central promise was certainty: clear rules, on a clear schedule, written into the text itself. Section 13 gave the primary federal stablecoin regulators exactly one year from enactment to promulgate implementing regulations. President Trump signed the law on July 18, 2025. The deadline was therefore July 18, 2026, which was Saturday. It came and went with the Federal Reserve, the OCC, the FDIC, the NCUA, and the Treasury Department all holding proposals instead of rules. The law built to end regulatory uncertainty produced a precisely dated demonstration of it, and the anniversary of American crypto’s biggest legislative win doubled as its first broken promise.

What the law required and what exists instead

The GENIUS Act is sweeping by any standard, which is part of why the deadline mattered. It created the first federal regime for payment stablecoins: full reserve requirements in liquid assets, monthly disclosure of reserve composition, redemption rights, licensing and supervision of issuers, and a priority rule that pays stablecoin holders ahead of other creditors when an issuer fails. Congress wrote the skeleton and directed the agencies to supply the flesh, through notice-and-comment rulemaking, within one year.

What exists at the deadline is a stack of proposals. Since enactment, the agencies have issued ten notices of proposed rulemaking. Treasury produced the most, four, covering broad implementation questions including the standard for deciding when a state regulatory regime is similar enough to the federal framework, registration requirements for foreign stablecoin issuers, and anti-money-laundering compliance. The OCC issued its main proposal in February, a wide package covering reserve assets, redemptions, capital, liquidity, custody, reporting, and risk management for issuers under its supervision, and a second covering approval requirements. The FDIC issued its own prudential proposal for stablecoin issuers owned by institutions it supervises, addressing reserves, capital, redemption, custody, and the deposit-insurance treatment of stablecoin reserves and tokenized deposits.

None of it is final, and some of it cannot be soon. Comment periods remain open past the deadline itself: one OCC window runs to July 21, and an FDIC anti-money-laundering proposal stays open until August 4. An agency cannot lawfully finalize a rule while its comment period is still running, which means parts of the framework were structurally incapable of meeting the statutory date. The deadline did not merely slip. It was scheduled to be missed.

Lawmakers saw it coming. Representative Bryan Steil pressed agency officials in December to complete their GENIUS rules on time, noting that regulators have a history of failing to implement legislation by congressionally mandated dates. The agencies heard the warning and missed anyway.

Grayscale is moving toward a more “traditional income” style model for its staking-based crypto ETPs. In recent Form 8-K filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the asset manager said it plans to amend the trust agreements behind its Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF (ETHE) and Grayscale Solana Staking ETF (GSOL) so that staking rewards are converted into cash on a recurring schedule and distributed to shareholders.

Grayscale said the proposed changes would take effect around Aug. 7. Under the amendments, each trust would convert staking rewards into cash no less often than quarterly and distribute net proceeds to investors. The company also emphasized that payout levels cannot be forecast in advance because distributions will depend on staking performance and the trust expenses deducted before payments are made.

Key takeaways

• Grayscale plans to amend ETHE and GSOL trust agreements around Aug. 7 to enable quarterly cash distributions from staking rewards.
• Distributions are expected to vary over time because they depend on staking rewards earned during each period and costs deducted by the trusts.
• Cash payouts are intended to let investors receive yield through broker-held ETP shares without managing staking directly.
• The filings tie the change to maintaining the funds’ existing US tax treatment under IRS rules while still earning staking rewards.
• ETHE has already begun staking distributions, with its first payout recorded on Jan. 5 at roughly $0.08 per share.

From staking returns to cash yield for ETP holders

Grayscale’s filings outline a step toward integrating staking yield into the mechanics of its ETP wrappers. Rather than requiring investors to hold crypto outside the fund or participate in staking operations themselves, the company is aiming to route staking-generated returns into cash payments distributed through the ETP structure.

In the SEC submissions, Grayscale said it intends to revise the trust agreements that govern its Solana and Ethereum staking products. The amendments would require the trusts to convert staking rewards into cash at least quarterly and distribute the net proceeds to shareholders, subject to expense deductions and other trust-level factors.

The practical effect for investors is straightforward: if approved and implemented as described, holders could receive staking yield in a more familiar form—cash distributions—while still holding regulated ETP shares through their brokerage accounts.

SEC filings point to a tax-structure rationale

Grayscale said the amendments are meant to keep the funds aligned with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance that allows these ETP vehicles to earn staking rewards without forfeiting their current tax treatment. According to the filing, the trust mechanics would also account for sponsor- and trust-related deductions prior to distributing proceeds.

The company noted that it does not expect the changes to “significantly” harm shareholders, and it plans to provide investors with additional updates once the modifications are effective, including explanations of how the regular cash payouts will operate.

At the same time, Grayscale made clear that it is not setting a fixed distribution amount. The filings state that payout outcomes may differ across periods due to variations in the amount of assets staked and changing network conditions that affect how much staking rewards are generated during each interval.

How much yield has been generated so far

Grayscale’s staking distribution pathway is already partially in motion. According to the company’s SEC documents and related disclosures, Grayscale enabled staking for its ETH and SOL products on Oct. 6, 2025—an event the filings describe as a first for a US crypto fund issuer adding staking to spot crypto ETPs.

Grayscale also reported that ETHE made its first staking distribution on Jan. 5, paying shareholders about $0.08 per share from the sale of rewards.

Separately, market information cited from Yahoo Finance showed that ETHE ended the week with $1.22 billion in net assets, while GSOL had $101.13 million. Grayscale’s own fund pages were used to provide a snapshot of gross staking rewards: ETHE’s gross staking rewards were listed at 2.67% as of July 17, while GSOL’s gross staking rewards were shown at 6.10%.

While these figures help frame where the products sit today, the SEC filings underscore that gross staking reward rates do not translate into predictable cash distributions. Net payouts will depend on the trust’s expenses and the variability of rewards across periods.

What changes next—and what investors should watch

If Grayscale’s proposed trust amendments are implemented around Aug. 7, shareholders should expect the operational process of staking rewards to be formalized into a recurring cash distribution workflow, at least on a quarterly basis. The company also indicated it would update the funds to provide further detail on the distribution process after the changes take effect.

For investors, the main item to track is how reliably the ETPs convert staking rewards into cash and how closely realized net distributions align with expectations derived from gross reward rates—especially as network conditions and staking outcomes fluctuate. Grayscale’s filings make clear that quarterly payouts will not be uniform, so investors may need to monitor actual distribution announcements rather than assume a steady yield.

Beyond ETHE and GSOL, the broader significance is that Grayscale is moving staking in a direction that resembles income-oriented ETP products—potentially making staking yield more accessible to traditional brokerage-based investors. The next test will be whether quarterly cash distribution execution becomes consistent and how investors respond as the products’ distribution history grows.