Circle, Ripple and SC Ventures join OKX’s financing at $25 billion valuation

OKX announced new investment from Circle, Ripple, Qube Research & Technologies and Standard Chartered's SC Ventures on October 6, extending the financing round that brought New York Stock Exchange parent Intercontinental Exchange into the company in March.

The transaction values OKX at $25 billion before the new money is added. CoinDesk reports that the company did not disclose how much the four investors contributed. The valuation is therefore a pricing basis for the investment, rather than the amount of capital raised.

The participants connect to infrastructure OKX already uses. Circle issues USDC, one of the stablecoins available on the platform. Ripple brings payments infrastructure and RLUSD, which is available through OKX's unified order book. QRT is an institutional counterparty supplying liquidity and risk capacity.

Standard Chartered's relationship centers on custody. It holds assets for BlackRock's tokenized Treasury fund BUIDL within a collateral arrangement involving OKX and BlackRock. Its venture arm's investment links the financing announcement to an existing institutional service.

OKX says the capital supports a broader financial technology business spanning payments, investment and tokenized assets. Its founder, Star Xu, described cryptocurrency exchange services as the company's starting point. The announcement pairs that expansion with investors already involved in stablecoin issuance, liquidity and custody.

The funding arrives as OKX and ICE pursue a market for tokenized U.S. stocks. CoinDesk reports that their joint venture plans round-the-clock trading in shares of 63 companies using blockchain infrastructure and stablecoins. Today's capital announcement advances the company's financing; it supplies no trading-volume evidence for that proposed venue.

Institutional adoption remains a separate hurdle. CoinDesk's reporting on a Tuesday Macquarie note says the stock platform would need companies, investors and liquidity providers to maintain reliable prices outside normal market hours. The bank also identified integration costs and uncertainty over the duration of the SEC's temporary framework as potential barriers.

Those questions will be settled through execution. The new investment adds four financial infrastructure backers at the same valuation used for March's round. How much capital they supplied, and whether the broader platform wins sustained institutional use, remain undisclosed or unproven.