TLDR
- OKX secured new investment from Circle, Ripple, QRT, and Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures at a $25 billion pre-money valuation.
- The deal extends a funding round first led by NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange back in March.
- All four new investors already have existing business ties with OKX across stablecoins, liquidity, and custody.
- OKX and ICE formed a joint venture this week to offer tokenized trading of 63 U.S. company shares.
- OKX CEO Star Xu says the company is moving beyond crypto trading into a broader financial technology platform.
OKX has secured new investment from four companies as it works to grow beyond its roots as a crypto trading exchange. The new backers are Circle, Ripple, QRT, and Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures.
The deal values OKX at $25 billion on a pre-money basis. This is the same valuation set during an earlier investment round in March.
OKX Raises New Funding at $25B Valuation From Circle, Ripple, SC Ventures and QRT
Bloomberg reported that crypto exchange OKX has raised a new round at a $25 billion valuation, with investors including Circle, Ripple, Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures, and London-based… pic.twitter.com/iLI5u4Fb4V
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 6, 2026
That March round was led by Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. The new investment extends that same funding round rather than starting a separate one.
OKX did not share how much money each new investor put in. The company also did not break down individual ownership stakes.
Existing Partners Become Investors
Each of the four new investors already works with OKX in some way. Circle’s USDC stablecoin is used across OKX trading products. Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin runs through the exchange’s unified order book.
QRT acts as a trading counterparty for OKX, providing liquidity and risk capacity. Standard Chartered already handles parts of OKX’s institutional custody setup.
OKX founder and CEO Star Xu said the exchange was the company’s starting point. He said OKX is now evolving into a global financial technology platform.
Xu said the goal is to let customers hold, spend, invest, and grow their money in one place. He added that the new capital will support the company’s growth plans.
Xu also said the funds will help OKX expand its work tokenizing real-world assets. The company did not say how the new money would be split between projects.
Tokenized Stock Trading Launches With ICE
OKX’s relationship with ICE has grown since the March investment. This week, an OKX-ICE joint venture filed plans to launch tokenized stock trading under a framework from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The joint venture, called OKXICE, plans to offer trading in tokenized shares of 63 U.S. companies. Trading would run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The platform would use OKX’s X Layer blockchain. Trades would settle using stablecoins including USDC, USDT, and USDG.
Shares traded on the platform would keep their dividend and voting rights. The project is an early test of the SEC’s five-year tokenization framework.
Investment bank Macquarie said adoption will depend on whether OKXICE can attract enough companies and liquidity providers. The bank said this is needed to keep prices steady around the clock.
Macquarie also said the temporary nature of the SEC exemption could make institutions hesitant. Firms may wait to see if the rules become permanent before investing in new systems. TD Securities raised similar concerns in a separate note.
Macquarie expects retail investors to adopt the platform faster than institutions. Institutions already have efficient ways to trade U.S. stocks and face more regulatory hurdles.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire linked the investment to the company’s deeper ties with OKX. He said USDC’s integration across OKX’s platform shows what happens when regulated dollar infrastructure meets active crypto trading markets.
Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures CEO Alex Manson said digital asset growth requires strong infrastructure. He said this includes institutional-grade custody services.
Ripple senior vice president Jack McDonald said stablecoins are becoming part of core financial infrastructure. He said the investment could lead to more joint work between Ripple and OKX.
OKX described the new funding as an extension of the round started in March. The company confirmed the $25 billion valuation remains unchanged from that earlier deal.
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