Overview

• Cuomo’s campaign pledges to appoint a Chief Innovation Officer and create an Innovation Council focused on crypto, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology.
• The council would include three advisory committees, with the crypto group tasked with replacing outdated rules to balance consumer protection with innovation.
• New York’s BitLicense framework is cited in the coverage as a barrier for digital-asset firms, providing context for Cuomo’s push to modernize rules.
• Cuomo’s plans are positioned against Mamdani’s previously stated calls for stricter crypto regulation and his past criticism of Cuomo over reported advisory work with exchange OKX.
• As context, Mayor Eric Adams launched a municipal Office of Digital Assets and has called for eliminating BitLicense, while Cuomo’s team also discusses attracting startups, simplifying licensing, workforce training, and blockchain pilot projects.