OKX has secured fresh funding at a valuation of $25 billion, bringing several major financial and digital-asset companies into its investor base as the cryptocurrency exchange expands its focus beyond trading.
Strategic investors join OKX
According to Bitcoin Magazine, Circle, Ripple and SC Ventures, the investment arm of British bank Standard Chartered, participated in the financing. OKX disclosed the new investment on Tuesday but did not provide the amount raised by each participant or the total size of the round.
The transaction places the exchange among the crypto companies attracting capital from both established financial institutions and firms built around digital assets. Circle is known for its role in the stablecoin market, while Ripple operates in financial technology and digital-asset infrastructure. Standard Chartered’s participation adds a major traditional banking group to the group of strategic investors.
OKX said the backing is intended to support its development into a broader financial technology company. Founder and Chief Executive Star Xu said the funding would help the business tokenize real-world assets, a process that represents ownership or claims linked to conventional assets through blockchain-based tokens.
Xu described the exchange as the company’s starting point rather than its final business model. OKX said the partnerships are intended to bring together financial-infrastructure companies around its plans for onchain markets, where transactions and ownership records are managed using blockchain technology.
Tokenization becomes a larger priority
The new financing follows an earlier investment by Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of major financial-market infrastructure, in the digital-asset company. OKX and Intercontinental Exchange have formed a joint venture called OKXICE.
On Sunday, OKXICE filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a tokenized-securities platform designed to support trading in U.S. stocks around the clock. The filing indicates that the venture is seeking to connect blockchain-based instruments with equity-market exposure, although the source material does not provide a launch date or further operating details.
Interest in tokenization has also grown among traditional financial firms. BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have used blockchain systems for tokenized money-market funds, according to the source. The topic has gained visibility on Wall Street since Donald Trump’s election as a pro-crypto president, while regulators appointed under his administration have taken a friendlier approach to oversight of the sector. The SEC approved tokenized stock trading in September, the source said.
Other links between conventional finance and crypto markets have emerged as well. In January, the S&P 500 gave crypto platform Trade[XYZ] permission to introduce a derivative contract on the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, allowing trading in the index around the clock.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data at 10:49 a.m. on October 7, 2026, showed Bitcoin at $83,692.61, down 2.88% over 24 hours and 0.21% over seven days. Aethir was priced at $0.006669, down 9.66% in 24 hours but up 10.43% over seven days. FUNToken stood at $0.008316, up 3.52% daily and 16.99% weekly. The latest supplied RealLink reading, recorded at 7:04 a.m. on September 15, showed $0.010075, down 86.56% over 24 hours and 86.35% over seven days.
