OKX has secured new investment from Circle, Ripple, Standard Chartered’s venture arm and Qube Research at a pre-money valuation of $25 billion, according to Decrypt. The size of the financing was not disclosed.
The round adds several strategically important investors to the crypto exchange’s shareholder base. It also matches the valuation attached to an investment announced in March by Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange.
The deal comes as OKX seeks to expand beyond its traditional role as a cryptocurrency exchange. The company is positioning itself as a broader financial technology platform where customers can hold, spend, invest and grow money through a single service.
Why the new investors matter
Circle is the issuer of USDC, one of the largest dollar-pegged stablecoins. Ripple operates payments businesses and issues RLUSD, another dollar-linked digital asset. Standard Chartered’s venture arm joins the round while the bank has an arrangement with OKX involving assets backing BlackRock’s tokenized Treasury fund. Qube Research is already an OKX customer and provides trading capacity.
The investors therefore include companies that either compete with parts of OKX’s developing business or already work with the exchange. For OKX, taking stakes in firms connected to the services it wants to offer may be a faster route to expansion than building every component internally.
The company’s strategy is also reflected in its relationship with Intercontinental Exchange. OKXICE, a joint venture involving the two groups, filed on Sunday to launch round-the-clock trading in tokenized shares of 63 US companies. The shares would run on OKX’s blockchain and settle using stablecoins.
Tokenized shares are digital representations of traditional securities. Their proposed use in this setting connects stock trading with features more commonly associated with crypto markets, including continuous trading and blockchain-based settlement. However, whether the model can develop sufficiently deep and reliable liquidity remains unresolved.
OKX pushes into tokenized markets
The exchange also launched a consumer application offering a 10% return on dollar stablecoins during the same week. In addition, OKX chief executive Star Xu said artificial intelligence now handles approximately 95% of the company’s code, with the related cost estimated at $10 million a month.
The move into tokenized equities faces practical and regulatory questions. Macquarie said the model depends on attracting enough liquidity for prices to remain dependable at times such as 3 a.m. on a Sunday. The bank also said institutions may be reluctant to connect their systems while the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulatory framework remains temporary.
Macquarie and TD Securities both expect initial demand to come mainly from retail investors. Their reasoning, as reported in the source material, is that institutions already have inexpensive access to US shares through existing markets.
OKX is not alone in pursuing a wider financial-services role. Kraken’s parent is spending billions on financial infrastructure, while Coinbase has added perpetual futures, tokenized stocks and Bitcoin-backed loans. The developments point to a growing effort among major crypto platforms to combine digital-asset trading with more conventional financial products.
Market picture
Crypto markets weakened after a late-evening selloff. The source material reported declines of roughly 3% to 5% among major digital assets, with Bitcoin at $83,600 and Ethereum at $2,580. More than $540 million in leveraged long positions were liquidated over the previous 24 hours, with Ethereum accounting for the largest share. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $119 million of net inflows on Tuesday, while Ether ETFs registered $202 million of outflows.
Moneyiar market data, recorded on October 8, 2026, at the times shown, also indicated mixed performance among selected assets:
- XRP was trading at $1.4102909115, down 3.29% over 24 hours and 5.3% over seven days, as of 09:23 (+03:30).
- OriginTrail (TRAC) stood at $0.4005536733, down 0.89% over 24 hours and 15.21% over seven days, as of 09:23 (+03:30).
- Ore (ORE) was priced at $109.7277268103, up 2.66% over 24 hours and 4.33% over seven days, as of 09:24 (+03:30).
- Ontology Gas (ONG) was at $0.0865511071, up 0.6% over 24 hours but down 7.26% over seven days, as of 09:24 (+03:30).
The financing gives OKX additional backing as it attempts to build a platform spanning exchanges, stablecoins, tokenized securities and financial services. Its success will depend on how effectively those businesses attract users, liquidity and institutional participation.
