OKX Attracts New Investments Amid $25 Billion Valuation

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has completed a new funding round at a $25 billion valuation. Participants in this round included companies such as Circle Internet Group, Ripple, Standard Chartered's investment arm SC Ventures, and Qube Research & Technologies. The size of the new funding was not disclosed. This capital raise follows a round completed in March, in which the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), invested approximately $200 million at the same valuation. Seven months have passed, and the company's valuation remains unchanged.

Haider Rafique, Global Managing Partner of OKX, noted that the funding is "aimed at strengthening the long-term infrastructure of the OKX market." OKX Founder and CEO Star Xu added that the new funds will help the company transition to a "broader global fintech platform," integrating "crypto technology with the standards people expect from global financial institutions." Qube Research & Technologies, a London-based quantitative hedge firm spun out of Credit Suisse, already manages a crypto fund of about $1 billion. Thomas Eaton, the company's Director of Quantitative Trading, commented that the investments reflect confidence in the "long-term growth of digital assets and 24/7 markets."

Amid the news, the OKB token rose by double digits, reaching nearly $142, according to TradingView. It is currently trading around $136, up more than 6% on the day. Over the week, OKB has gained more than 13% amid the recovery of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, with a year-to-date increase of 24%.

The joint venture between OKX and ICE is seeking approval to offer tokenized shares of 63 U.S. public companies, including Nvidia, Apple, and Coca-Cola. This offering will be conducted under a new innovation exemption introduced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in September, a few days after the Clarity Act stalled in the Senate. The exemption allows qualified platforms to trade tokenized U.S. stocks on public blockchains without registering as national stock exchanges for up to five years. It applies only to tokens that grant the same rights as regular shares, including dividends and voting. Synthetic instruments that merely track the price are excluded. The exemption also limits the number of shares each platform can offer and gives issuers 30 days to contest the tokenization of their shares by a third party. In this context, Nvidia, Apple, and Coca-Cola have the right to veto the appearance of their shares on the platform. OKX is also expanding its exposure to stocks through other routes, including the listing of perpetual futures on Magnificent Seven stocks and the S&P 500 index.