Circle, Ripple, and Standard Chartered Back OKX in Extended $25B Funding Round

TLDR

• OKX has brought in fresh capital from Circle, Ripple, QRT, and Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures, maintaining its $25 billion pre-money valuation.
• The investment represents an extension of the funding round initially spearheaded by Intercontinental Exchange, NYSE’s parent company, in March.
• Each of the four new backers maintains active business relationships with OKX involving stablecoins, liquidity provision, and custody services.
• A newly formed OKX-ICE joint venture launched this week plans to facilitate tokenized trading of 63 publicly traded U.S. companies.
• Star Xu, OKX’s founder and CEO, emphasized the platform’s transformation from a pure crypto exchange into a comprehensive financial technology ecosystem.

OKX has brought in fresh capital from four strategic partners as the platform expands its scope beyond cryptocurrency exchange services. The latest backers include Circle, Ripple, QRT, and SC Ventures, the innovation arm of Standard Chartered.

The transaction maintains OKX’s pre-money valuation at $25 billion. This figure matches the valuation established during the initial funding announcement in March.

Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, spearheaded the March investment round. The current capital injection builds on that earlier round instead of launching a new financing cycle.

Specific investment amounts from each participant were not disclosed by OKX. The platform also withheld details regarding individual equity positions.

Strategic Partners Deepen Commitment

All four incoming investors maintain established commercial relationships with OKX. Circle’s USDC stablecoin powers multiple trading services on the OKX platform. Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin operates through the exchange’s consolidated order book infrastructure.

QRT serves as a key trading counterparty, delivering liquidity and risk management capacity to OKX. Standard Chartered’s existing relationship includes managing portions of the platform’s institutional custody operations.

Star Xu, OKX’s founder and chief executive, characterized the exchange as the company’s initial foundation. He described the platform’s current trajectory as an evolution toward becoming a comprehensive global financial technology infrastructure.

Xu outlined the vision of creating a unified platform where users can manage, spend, invest, and grow their assets. He noted that the additional capital will fuel the company’s expansion strategy.

The CEO also indicated that proceeds would support OKX’s initiatives in tokenizing tangible assets. Details on capital allocation across specific initiatives were not provided.

OKXICE Joint Venture Files for Tokenized Equity Platform

The partnership between OKX and ICE has deepened following the March capital commitment. Earlier this week, a joint venture entity filed documentation to introduce tokenized equity trading under regulatory guidance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

OKXICE, the name of the joint venture, intends to facilitate trading in tokenized representations of 63 U.S. corporate equities. The platform would operate continuously, enabling transactions around the clock every day of the week.

OKX’s X Layer blockchain would serve as the underlying infrastructure. Settlement would occur through stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, and USDG.

Tokenized equities on the platform would preserve shareholder benefits including dividend distributions and voting privileges. The initiative represents an initial application of the SEC’s five-year tokenization pilot program.

Macquarie, an investment banking firm, indicated that success hinges on OKXICE’s ability to onboard sufficient corporate participants and liquidity providers. The firm emphasized this requirement for maintaining stable pricing during continuous trading hours.

Macquarie also highlighted that the provisional status of the SEC exemption might discourage institutional participation. Financial institutions may prefer to observe whether regulations become permanent before committing resources to new infrastructure. TD Securities echoed these observations in its own analysis.

The investment bank anticipates retail traders will embrace the platform more quickly than institutional participants. Institutional players already operate efficient U.S. equity trading systems and navigate more complex compliance requirements.

Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s chief executive, connected the investment to strengthening collaboration with OKX. He highlighted how USDC’s integration throughout OKX’s ecosystem demonstrates the synergy between regulated digital dollar systems and active cryptocurrency markets.

Alex Manson, CEO of SC Ventures at Standard Chartered, emphasized that scaling digital assets demands robust infrastructure. He specifically mentioned institutional-quality custody capabilities as essential components.

Jack McDonald, a senior vice president at Ripple, characterized stablecoins as evolving into fundamental financial infrastructure. He suggested the investment might catalyze additional collaborative projects between Ripple and OKX.

OKX characterized the latest capital infusion as a continuation of the funding activity initiated in March. The company verified that the $25 billion valuation figure remains consistent with the previous transaction.