Circle, Ripple and Standard Chartered Back OKX at Flat $25B Valuation

OKX has secured new investment at a $25 billion valuation from a mix of crypto and traditional finance players, Bloomberg reported. The latest contributors named by the exchange include Circle Internet Group, Ripple, Standard Chartered’s venture unit SC Ventures, and London quantitative firm Qube Research & Technologies. OKX did not reveal how much capital the round generated. The new tranche extends an earlier financing completed in March, when Intercontinental Exchange — the owner of the New York Stock Exchange — invested roughly $200 million into OKX at the same $25 billion price. The unchanged valuation seven months later underscores continuity in investor terms and suggests institutional backers remain confident in OKX’s business plan. OKX said the fresh funds will be used to reinforce its market infrastructure long term, according to a statement from the exchange’s global managing partner, Haider Rafique. Qube Research & Technologies, a Credit Suisse spinout that already manages a roughly $1 billion crypto fund, described its participation as a vote of confidence in the long-term growth of digital assets and nonstop markets. Separately, OKX and ICE have continued to develop a joint venture, OKXICE LLC, which has filed to offer tokenized shares in 63 U.S. public companies, including Nvidia, Apple and Coca-Cola. The offering would rely on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s innovation exemption, a rule that enables qualifying venues to list tokenized U.S. equities on public blockchains for up to five years without registering as national securities exchanges. Under the exemption, tokens must convey the same rights as ordinary shares — such as dividends and voting — while synthetic products that only track prices are excluded. The exemption also limits the number of stocks a venue may list and gives issuers 30 days to object if a third party seeks to tokenize their shares. OKX has already been increasing equity exposure by listing perpetual futures on major U.S. tech stocks and the S&P 500, positioning the exchange to expand its product set alongside efforts to offer on-chain tokens that represent actual share ownership.