OKX announced Tuesday that Circle, Ripple, Qube Research & Technologies (QRT), and SC Ventures by Standard Chartered have invested in the exchange at a $25 billion valuation. The round extends the stake that NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) took in March, with the valuation described as pre-money before counting the new capital.
Each of the four investors already maintains operational relationships with OKX across different business layers. QRT, a multi-strategy investment manager, serves as an institutional counterparty supplying liquidity and risk capacity to the exchange. Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin trades across OKX's unified order book, having gone live on more than 280 OKX trading pairs in April, including trading pairs against XRP.
Standard Chartered's involvement centers on BlackRock's BUIDL tokenized Treasury fund. On April 28, OKX, BlackRock, and the bank launched a framework allowing VIP and institutional clients to post BUIDL as trading collateral, with the bank holding those fund shares in custody off the exchange while clients trade on OKX Middle East.
"Our investment reflects our conviction in what they're building and opens the door to deepen our work together across stablecoins, payments and institutional markets," said Jack McDonald, SVP of Stablecoins at Ripple.
New Product Launches
OKX paired the investment announcement with product developments. OKXICE, a joint venture between OKX and ICE, filed with the SEC to offer 63 tokenized NYSE stocks to US users starting October 4. The tokenized shares must carry the same dividend and voting rights as underlying shares, with listed companies able to opt out within 30 days before trading begins.
OKX also launched OKX Money on Tuesday, a standalone app for saving, sending, and spending dollar stablecoins. Users can fund accounts in more than 50 currencies and hold USDG, USDC, or Tether's USDT. Qualifying customers can earn up to 10% annually on eligible USDG balances with no staking or lockup requirements. The app and rewards are available only in select regions.
CEO Star Xu stated that the new capital will support OKX's growth and efforts to tokenize real-world assets. "The exchange was our starting point, and we are evolving into a broader global financial technology platform," Xu said.
