OKX has attracted new investment from Circle, Ripple, Qube Research & Technologies and SC Ventures, the venture arm of Standard Chartered, as the cryptocurrency exchange accelerates a broader expansion into payments, stablecoins and blockchain-based versions of traditional assets.
The company did not disclose the size of the new funding. However, the transaction values OKX at $25 billion on a pre-money basis, matching the valuation attached to an earlier investment by Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange. CoinDesk first reported the development.
From crypto exchange to financial technology platform
OKX was established as a venue for digital-asset trading, but its stated ambition now extends well beyond that original business. Founder and Chief Executive Star Xu said the exchange was the company’s starting point and that OKX is evolving into a broader global financial technology platform.
The company says it wants customers to be able to hold, spend, invest and grow their money through one platform. That strategy places OKX among a group of crypto companies attempting to broaden their services into payments, stablecoins, derivatives, stocks and tokenized real-world assets.
A tokenized asset is a digital representation of an asset recorded on a blockchain. In the model being pursued by OKX and its partners, blockchain infrastructure could support trading and settlement for assets that traditionally move through brokerage and exchange systems. Stablecoins—digital tokens designed to maintain a stable value relative to a reference currency—can be used to transfer value and settle transactions.
The latest investor group reflects that connection between digital assets and conventional finance. Circle is the issuer of USDC, while Ripple provides payments infrastructure and issues the RLUSD stablecoin. Qube Research & Technologies, also known as QRT, is an institutional counterparty to OKX and supplies liquidity and trading capacity.
Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures is also participating. Separately, Standard Chartered acts as custodian for BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized Treasury fund under a collateral arrangement involving OKX and BlackRock.
OKX and ICE prepare tokenized stock market
The investment follows an earlier deal with ICE and comes as OKX and the NYSE owner pursue a joint venture focused on tokenized U.S. shares. OKXICE filed this week to introduce trading under a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission framework.
The proposed venue would offer round-the-clock trading in tokenized shares of 63 U.S. companies. It is expected to use OKX’s X Layer blockchain and stablecoins including USDC, USDT and USDG for trading and settlement. Under the proposal, the tokenized shares would retain dividend and voting rights.
The project is an early test of the SEC’s new five-year tokenization framework. It also represents a direct attempt to apply blockchain-based market infrastructure to a product traditionally provided by brokerages and securities exchanges.
For OKX, the venture could help turn its broader platform strategy into a live financial-market service. The model would combine the exchange’s crypto infrastructure and stablecoin connections with access to traditional equity exposure. The investment from companies involved in stablecoins, payments, liquidity and custody further underlines that direction.
Institutional adoption remains uncertain
The planned market still faces questions about its ability to attract professional investors. Macquarie said adoption will depend on whether OKXICE can bring together enough companies, investors and liquidity providers to support dependable prices throughout a 24-hour trading cycle.
The temporary nature of the SEC exemption could also discourage institutions from paying to connect their systems to the platform before the regulatory framework’s durability is clearer. TD Securities raised similar concerns in a separate note.
Macquarie expects initial demand to come mainly from retail investors. Institutions already have established access to U.S.-listed shares, while participation in a new tokenized market could require additional regulatory reviews and technology integration. Those hurdles may make the service less immediately attractive to professional firms even if the market is technically available around the clock.
The platform will therefore provide a test not only for tokenized equities, but also for stablecoins as settlement instruments in regulated financial markets. Their use in this setting would extend beyond their established role in crypto trading and place them closer to the infrastructure of traditional securities markets.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data at the stated times show mixed performance among the tracked digital assets:
- XRP was priced at $1.4540762811 at 10:03 on October 7, 2026, down 3.26% over 24 hours and 3.69% over seven days.
- Four (FORM) stood at $0.2706207288 at 10:04 on October 7, down 2.81% in 24 hours and 6.72% over seven days.
- REAL (ASSET) was at $0.2063109401 at 13:04 on October 3, up 7.73% over 24 hours but down 11.35% over seven days.
- aelf (ELF) traded at $0.0650193344 at 10:04 on October 7, rising 6.02% over 24 hours and 1.65% over seven days.
These figures are Moneyiar market data and are provided as a snapshot at the times shown.
