Key Takeaways
- OKX completed a strategic investment extension at a $25 billion pre-money valuation with Circle, Ripple, QRT and SC Ventures participating.
- The round extends a March investment led by NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange, which valued OKX at the same $25 billion level.
- OKX says the new capital will support stablecoins, tokenization, institutional markets and broader financial infrastructure rather than only exchange growth.
Crypto exchange OKX has completed a new strategic investment round at a $25 billion pre-money valuation, bringing in Circle, Ripple, Qube Research & Technologies (QRT) and Standard Chartered’s investment arm, SC Ventures.
The October 6 investment extends an earlier round led by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), in March 2026. OKX did not disclose how much capital was raised in the latest extension.
Unlike a traditional funding round built around financial investors alone, OKX framed the deal around companies that already provide key parts of its infrastructure, including stablecoin issuance, liquidity, payments and custody.
OKX Keeps Its $25 Billion Valuation From March
The latest financing values OKX at the same level as its March round. ICE invested roughly $200 million in OKX earlier this year at a $25 billion valuation.
The new extension did not increase that valuation despite adding several major institutional and crypto investors.
| Funding Detail | Latest OKX Round |
| Valuation | $25 billion pre-money |
| Date | October 6, 2026 |
| New investors | Circle, Ripple, QRT, SC Ventures |
| Previous lead investor | Intercontinental Exchange |
| March ICE investment | About $200 million |
| Latest amount raised | Not disclosed |
Table 1. OKX Strategic Investment Round
The unchanged valuation means OKX has maintained the price established seven months earlier rather than completing an up-round at a higher figure.
That does not necessarily indicate weaker demand. The participants in the extension are largely strategic partners that already work with OKX across financial infrastructure.
Circle, Ripple, QRT and SC Ventures Join the Round
Each investor brings a different part of the financial stack that OKX says it wants to connect.
Circle is the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, which is integrated across OKX’s platform.
Qube Research & Technologies (QRT) is a global multi-strategy investment manager and institutional counterparty that provides liquidity and risk capacity to OKX.
Ripple contributes payments, liquidity and stablecoin infrastructure. Its RLUSD stablecoin is already available through OKX’s unified order book.
SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s investment arm, gives OKX another connection to institutional custody and tokenized assets. Standard Chartered acts as custodian for BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized Treasury fund, which is part of a collateral framework developed with OKX and BlackRock.
OKX Says the Capital Will Support Tokenization and Financial Infrastructure
OKX founder and CEO Star Xu said the company wants to build a platform where users can hold, pay, invest and grow assets within the same financial system.
The funding is expected to support areas including:
- Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs)
- Stablecoin infrastructure
- Payments
- Institutional liquidity
- Custody
- Onchain markets
Xu said the exchange was the company’s starting point, not its final product, and that OKX is increasingly positioning itself as a broader financial technology platform.
The round’s strategic structure also gives OKX closer relationships with companies already operating in those areas, rather than relying only on capital.
The Round Extends OKX’s Partnership With ICE
The latest financing builds directly on OKX’s relationship with Intercontinental Exchange.
ICE invested in OKX in March at the same $25 billion valuation, and the two companies have since expanded their collaboration around tokenized securities.
OKX and ICE have also been developing OKX ICE, a joint venture focused on tokenized US equities, making the October funding round closely connected to OKX’s broader push into TradFi assets rather than simply increasing crypto trading capacity.
Recent OKX Developments
OKX has accelerated its expansion beyond conventional crypto trading during 2026, and one of the most significant areas is tokenized equities.
The company has been working with ICE on infrastructure that could bring US-listed stocks onchain through a regulated structure. We recently covered how OKX and ICE are preparing tokenized stock trading as part of that broader strategy.
OKX has also expanded its institutional and payments products, while working more closely with stablecoin issuers and traditional financial firms.
Why the Flat $25 Billion Valuation Matters
The company did not disclose a higher valuation despite adding Circle, Ripple, QRT and SC Ventures.
The round is therefore best understood as a strategic extension at an unchanged valuation, not a new valuation milestone.
For context, funding announcements can sometimes create the impression that a company has increased in value simply because new investors joined. In this case, the stronger signal is the type of investors involved and the infrastructure relationships they bring.
What Comes Next
OKX is likely to put the new capital toward its tokenization, stablecoin, payments and institutional-market strategy while continuing to develop its partnership with ICE.
Attention will also remain on how quickly its tokenized stock plans progress and whether the company expands the range of institutional collateral and stablecoin products available through the platform.
What this means for you: OKX did not receive a higher valuation in this round, but it added four partners that already support important parts of its infrastructure. The bigger story is not the valuation increase, because there was none. It is OKX’s continued shift from a crypto exchange toward a platform combining stablecoins, tokenized assets, institutional liquidity and custody.
